 列上:1.(1kgs) [列王紀上]   [1 kings]    [共 22 章]   [思高聖經]
    
           前編撒羅滿君王史（列上1－11）
 列上:1.1    [達味年老]  達味王年紀已老，雖然蓋著許多被褥，仍然不覺溫暖。
 列上:1.2    於是他的臣僕對他說：「讓人為我主大王找一個年輕少女來，服侍大王，照料大王，睡在大王懷裏，溫暖我主大王。」
 列上:1.3    他們就在以色列全境，尋找美麗的少女；找著了一個叔能女子阿彼沙格，便領她到君王那裏。
 列上:1.4    這少女非常美麗，她就照料服侍君王，君王卻沒有認識她。
 列上:1.5    [阿多尼雅的野心]  那時，哈基特的兒子阿多尼雅自尊自大說：「我必要作主! 」他遂為自己預備了車輛與騎兵，有五十人在他面前開道。
 列上:1.6    他的父親一生從未責罵過他說：「你為什麼這樣做﹖」他出生於阿貝沙隆之後，也是個十分英俊的人。
 列上:1.7    他曾與責魯雅的兒子約阿布和司祭厄貝雅塔爾商議過，他們二人都支持阿多尼雅。
 列上:1.8    但是司祭匝多克、約雅達的兒子貝納雅、先知納堂、史米勒依，以及達味的勇士們，都不擁護阿多尼雅。
 列上:1.9    一天，阿多尼雅在洛格耳泉旁的左赫肋特磐石上，宰殺了牛羊和肥犢，邀請了君王的兒子們─他所有的兄弟，和所有作君王臣僕的猶大人，
 列上:1.10   惟獨沒有邀請先知納堂、貝納雅、勇士們和他的兄弟撒羅滿。
 列上:1.11   [先知勸立撒羅滿為王]  納堂對撒羅滿的母親巴特舍巴說：「你沒有聽說：哈基特的兒子阿多尼雅已作了王，而我們的主上達味還不知道嗎﹖
 列上:1.12   現在，我給你出個主意，好保全你和你兒子撒羅滿的性命。
 列上:1.13   你去見達味，對他說：我主大王，你不是曾向你的婢女起誓說：你的兒子撒羅滿必要繼我為王，坐上我的寶座嗎﹖為什麼阿多尼雅卻作了王呢﹖
 列上:1.14   當米還在那裏與君王說話時，我便隨後進來，證實你的話。」
 列上:1.15   巴特舍特於是進了君王的內室。君王年紀已老，叔能女子阿彼沙格正在旁服侍君王。
 列上:1.16   巴特舍特便俯伏叩拜君王。君王問說：「你有什麼事﹖」
 列上:1.17   巴特舍特答說：「我主，你曾指著上主你的天主向你的婢女起誓說：你的兒子撒羅滿必要繼我為王，坐上我的寶座。
 列上:1.18   但是，現在阿多尼雅已作了主，而我主大王，你還不知道。
 列上:1.19   他宰殺了許多牛、肥犢和羊，邀請了君王所有的兒子和厄貝雅塔爾司祭並約阿布元帥，惟獨你的僕人撒羅滿，他沒有邀請。
 列上:1.20   我主大王，現在全以色列人的眼望著你，等待你通告他們，誰要坐上我主大王的寶座，繼承大王。
 列上:1.21   不然，將來我主大王同自己的祖先長眠之後，我和我的兒子撒羅滿必被列為罪犯。」
 列上:1.22   正當她同君王談話時，納堂先知進來了。
 列上:1.23   有人稟告君王說：「納堂先知來了。」他來到君王面前，便俯首至地，向君王下拜。
 列上:1.24   納堂說：「我主大王，想必你說過，阿多尼雅必要繼我為王，坐上我的寶座
 列上:1.25   因為他今天下去，宰殺了許多牛、肥犢和羊，邀請了君王所有的兒子和軍官，以及厄貝雅塔爾司祭；他們在他面前吃喝，呼喊說：阿多尼雅王萬歲!
 列上:1.26   至於你的僕人我、匝多克司祭、約雅達的兒子貝納雅，以及你的兒子撒羅滿，他都沒有邀請。
 列上:1.27   如果這事是出於我主大王，難道你會不通告你的僕人，誰要坐上我主大王的寶座，繼承大王嗎﹖」
 列上:1.28   韃味回答說：「快給我召巴特，舍巴來! 」她便進來立在君王面前。
 列上:1.29   君王起誓說：「救我脫離各種患難的上主永在!
 列上:1.30   我既然曾指著上主以色列的天主向你起誓說：你的兒子撒羅滿必要繼我為王，代我坐上我的寶座：今天我就要這樣作。」
 列上:1.31   巴特舍巴遂俯伏在地，叩拜君王說：「願我主大王韃味萬歲! 」
 列上:1.32   [撒羅滿登極為王]  韃味王接著說：「將司祭匝多克、先知納堂、約雅韃的兒子貝納雅，給我召來。」他們都來到君王面前。
 列上:1.33   君王對他們說：「率領你們主子的僕人，立刻叫我兒撒羅滿騎上我自己的騾子，護送他下到基紅去。
 列上:1.34   司祭匝多克和先知納堂要在那裏給他傅油，立他為以色列王。你們要吹號歡呼說：撒羅滿王萬歲!
 列上:1.35   以後，你們跟他上來，他要來坐在我的寶座，繼位為王，因為我已欽定他作以色列和猶大的領袖。」
 列上:1.36   約雅達的兒子貝納雅回答君王說：「但願如此! 願我主大王的上主天主，如此照准!
 列上:1.37   上主如何與我主大王同在，也願他與撒羅滿同在! 使他的王位高於我主君王達味的王位。」
 列上:1.38   於是司祭匝多克、先知納堂、約雅達的兒子貝納雅、革勒提人和培肋提人下去，叫撒羅滿騎上達味王的騾子，護送他到了基紅。
 列上:1.39   司祭匝多克從會幕裏取過油角來，給撒羅滿傅了油，人們立即吹號，眾百姓一起歡呼說：「撒羅滿王萬歲! 」
 列上:1.40   以後，所有的人民擁護他上去，吹著笛子，盡情歡喜，以致大地也因他們的歡呼聲而震動了。
 列上:1.41   [阿多尼雅的黨羽瓦解]  阿多尼雅和他所請的一切客人歡宴剛完，都聽見了這聲音；約阿布一聽見號聲，便問說﹕「為什麼城中這樣鼓譟﹖」
 列上:1.42   他正說話的時候，司祭厄貝雅塔爾的兒子約納堂來了，阿多尼雅說﹕「進來，你是個英雄好漢，想必帶來了好消息! 」
 列上:1.43   約納堂回答阿多尼雅說﹕「不! 我們的主上達味王已立撒羅滿為王了。
 列上:1.44   君王派司祭匝多克、先知納堂、約雅達的兒子貝納雅、革勒提人和培肋提人，護送他下去，叫他騎上了君王的騾子。
 列上:1.45   司祭匝多克和先知納堂已在基紅給他傅了油，立他為王。現在他們正從那裏歡呼上來，震動了全城﹕這就是你們聽到的喧嚷聲。
 列上:1.46   撒羅滿現已坐上了君王的寶座，
 列上:1.47   君王的臣僕都來祝賀我們的主上達味王說﹕願你的天主使撒羅滿的名聲比你的名聲更榮耀，使他的王位比你的王位更興隆! 君王就伏在床上下拜，
 列上:1.48   且說﹕上主以色列的天主應受讚美! 因為今天他指派了一個人坐上了我的寶座，我也親自眼看見了。」
 列上:1.49   阿多尼雅請來的客人都害了怕，起來各自走了。
 列上:1.50   阿多尼雅也害怕撒羅滿，遂起來跑到上主的會幕內，抱住祭壇的角。
 列上:1.51   有人告訴撒羅滿說﹕「看，阿多尼雅害怕撒羅滿王，抱住祭壇的角說﹕撒羅滿王先得向我起誓﹕決不用刀殺死他的僕人。」
 列上:1.52   撒羅滿說：「如果他肯做一個忠義的人，他的一根頭髮也不會落在地上；但如果發現他有什麼不對，必死無疑。」
 列上:1.53   撒羅滿王遂派人去，叫他從祭壇上下來；他便前來，俯伏在撒羅滿王前。撒羅滿對他說﹕「你回家去罷! 」
    
 列上:2.1    [達味王的遺囑]  達味死的日子已經近了，便囑咐自己的兒子撒羅滿說：
 列上:2.2    「我現在要走世人應走的路，你要作英勇有為的大丈夫，
 列上:2.3    恪守上主你天主的典章，履行他的道路，遵守他的規律、誡命、法令和制度，如梅瑟法律上所記載的：這樣無論你做什麼，無論你往何處去，必然順利；
 列上:2.4    上主也必履行他關於我所說的話，說：如果你的子孫固守他們的道路，真能全心全意在我面前行走，那麼，你的後代就決不缺坐上以色列寶座的人。
 列上:2.5    此外，你也知道責魯雅的兒子約阿布對我所做的事，對以色列軍隊的兩個統帥，乃爾的兒子阿貝乃爾和耶特爾的兒子阿瑪撒所做的事；他在昇平時，殺了他們，像在戰爭時殺人，使我腰間的帶子和腳上的鞋染了無辜的血。
 列上:2.6    你要憑你的明智行事，不要讓他平安無事，白頭下入陰府。
 列上:2.7    至於基肋阿得人巴爾齊來人的子孫，你卻應該厚待他們，使他們列入你席上的食客，因為當我逃避你哥哥阿貝沙隆時，他們是怎樣的照顧了我。
 列上:2.8    看，在你身旁還有巴胡陵地的本雅明人革辣的兒子史米，在我去瑪哈納殷那一天，他惡毒地咒罵了我；但是，後來他又下到約旦河來迎接我，當時我指著上主對他起誓說：我決不用刀處決你。
 列上:2.9    現在，你可不要把他看作無罪的人，你既然明智，就該知道怎樣對付他，使他白髮染血，下入陰府。」
 列上:2.10   [達味逝世撒羅滿即位]  達味與自己的列祖同眠，葬在達味城。
 列上:2.11   達味作以色列王四十年：在赫貝龍作王七年，在耶路撒冷作王三十三年。
 列上:2.12   撒羅滿於是坐上了他父親達味的寶座，他的王國恨是鞏固。
 列上:2.13   [阿多尼雅自招殺身之禍]  哈基特的兒子阿多尼雅來見撒羅滿的母親巴特舍巴，她問說：「你來這裏平安嗎﹖」阿多尼雅回答說：「平安。」
 列上:2.14   繼而又說：「我有句話對你說。」巴特舍巴說：「請說罷! 」
 列上:2.15   他說：「你知道王國原該歸於我，全以色列都期待我為王。無奈王國反而歸於我的弟弟；當然，歸他是由於上主。
 列上:2.16   現在，我要求你一件事，請你不要拒絕我! 」巴特舍巴對他說：「說罷! 」
 列上:2.17   阿多尼雅說：「我求你向撒羅滿說：將叔能的女子阿彼沙格給我為妻，因為他決不會拒絕你的請求。」
 列上:2.18   巴特舍巴說：「好! 我要為你請求君王。」
 列上:2.19   巴特舍巴於是去見撒羅滿王，為阿多尼雅請求。君王遂起身迎接她，向她俯首致敬，然後坐在寶座上；又叫人為君王的母親另預備了一個座位，她便坐在君王的右邊。
 列上:2.20   巴特舍巴說：「我要求你一件小事，請你不要拒絕我! 」君王對她說：「母親! 你求罷! 我決不拒絕。」
 列上:2.21   巴特舍巴說：「請你將叔能的女子給你哥哥阿多尼雅為妻。」
 列上:2.22   撒羅滿回答母親說：「你為什麼為阿多尼雅要求叔能的女子阿彼沙格呢﹖你為他要求王國罷! 因為他是我的哥哥，何況厄貝雅塔爾司祭和責魯雅的兒子約阿布又都擁護他。」
 列上:2.23   撒羅滿王便指著上主起誓說：「如果阿多尼雅說了這話，而不喪失性命，願上主嚴厲懲罰我，並加倍地懲罰我!
 列上:2.24   上主支持我，使我坐上了我父親達味的寶座，照他所應許的，給我建立了王室，現在，我指著永生的上主起誓：阿多尼雅今天必該處死! 」
 列上:2.25   撒羅滿王便派約雅達的兒子貝納雅去殺了阿多尼雅；阿多尼雅便死了。
 列上:2.26   [厄貝雅塔爾被革職]  此後，君王對於厄貝雅塔爾司祭說：「你回阿納托特，往你的莊田去罷! 你原是該死的人，但今天我不殺你，因為你曾在我父親達味面前，抬過吾主上主的約櫃，與我父親同受過一切艱苦。」
 列上:2.27   這樣，撒羅滿罷免了厄貝雅塔爾作上主的司祭，應驗了上主昔日在史羅指著厄里家族所說的話。
 列上:2.28   [約阿布被處決]  約阿布既然支持阿多尼雅，而沒有支持撒羅滿，他聽到了這消息，便跑到上主的會幕裏，抱住祭壇的角。
 列上:2.29   有人報告撒羅滿王說：「約阿布逃到上主的會幕裏，站在祭壇旁。」撒羅滿就吩咐約雅達的兒子貝納雅說：「你去，將他殺死! 」
 列上:2.30   貝納雅便到上主的會幕內，對約阿布說：「君王這樣吩咐：你出來罷! 」他回答說：「我不出去，我寧願死在這裏。」貝納雅回來向君王覆命說：「約阿布這樣說了，這樣回答了我。」
 列上:2.31   君王對他說：「你就照他所說的去做：將他殺死埋掉，今天你即應從我身上，由我父家除去約阿布所流的無辜之血。
 列上:2.32   上主必要使他所流的血歸到他頭上，因為他曾殺死了兩個比他更正義，更慈善的人。他用刀殺死了乃爾的兒子，以色列軍隊的統帥阿貝乃爾，和耶特爾的兒子，猶大軍隊的統帥阿瑪撒，這事我父親一點都不知道。
 列上:2.33   他們的血要永歸在約阿布和他子孫的頭上；至於達味，他的後裔，他的家族，他的王位，必永遠享受遺上主而來的平安! 」
 列上:2.34   約雅達的兒子貝納雅就上去，殺了他，把他葬在他曠野中的家園。
 列上:2.35   君王遂委任約雅達的兒子貝納雅，代替約阿布統率軍隊，又委任匝多克司祭，代替厄貝雅塔爾。
 列上:2.36   [史米違命處死]  君王派人將史米召來，對他說：「你要在耶路撒冷為你建築一座房屋，住在那裏，不可從那裏出來，到任何地方去。
 列上:2.37   你應當知道：你那一天出來，渡過克德龍溪，你那一天就一定要死；你的血必歸在你頭上。」
 列上:2.38   史米對君王說：「這話很好! 我主大王怎樣說，你的僕人就怎樣做。」史米於是常住在耶路撒冷。
 列上:2.39   三年以後，史米的兩個僕人逃到瑪敖客的兒子，加特的君王阿基士那裏去了。有人告訴史米說：「你的僕人在加特。」
 列上:2.40   史米便起來，備好自己的驢，往加特阿基士那裏，找他的僕人。史米去了，從加特帶回了自己的僕人。
 列上:2.41   有人告訴撒羅滿說：「史米從耶路撒冷去了加特，意回來了。」
 列上:2.42   君王便派人將史米召來，對他說：「難道我沒有叫你指著上主起誓，預先警告你說：你應當知道：你那一天出去，不論到任何地方，你那一天就一定要死麼﹖你不是也對我說過：這話很好，我聽見了麼﹖
 列上:2.43   為什麼你沒有遵守對上主的誓言和我吩咐你的命令﹖」
 列上:2.44   君王又對史米說：「你心裏明白你對我父親達味所做的一切惡事，所以上主要將你的邪惡都歸在你頭上。
 列上:2.45   而撒羅滿王卻要蒙受祝福，達味的王權要在上主面前，永遠堅定不移! 」
 列上:2.46   於是君王命令約雅達的兒子貝納雅出去，擊殺了史米，史米就死了。於是王國在撒羅滿治下纔算鞏固了。
    
 列上:3.1    [撒羅滿與外族結親]  撒羅滿與埃及王法郎結親，娶了法郎的公主，接她住在達味城，直等到他建完了自己的宮殿、上主的殿及耶路撒冷四周圍的城垣。
 列上:3.2    百姓仍然在高丘上獻祭，因為直到那時，還沒有為上主的名建造殿宇。
 列上:3.3    撒羅滿愛慕上主，遵行他父親達味的律例，只是仍在高丘上獻祭焚香。
 列上:3.4    [上主顯現給撒羅滿]  撒羅滿王去了基貝紅，為在那裏獻祭，因為那是一個最廣大的高丘。撒羅滿在那裏的祭壇上奉獻了一千全燔祭。
 列上:3.5    撒羅滿在基貝紅時，夜間上主藉著夢顯現給他；天主對他說﹕「你不拘求什麼，我必給你。」
 列上:3.6    撒羅滿說﹕「你的僕人，我的父親達味曾以虔誠、公義及正直的心與你同行，你曾向他表示了偉大的恩德，又為給他保持這偉大的恩德，賜給了他一個兒子，坐在他的寶座上，如同今天一樣。
 列上:3.7    上主，我的天主，現在你使你的僕人替代我父親達味為王，但我還太年輕，不知道如何處理國事。
 列上:3.8    你的僕人是住在你所選的民族中間，這是一個多得不可統計，不可勝數的大民族。
 列上:3.9    為此，求你賜給你的僕人一顆慧心，可統治你的百姓，判斷善惡；否則，誰能統治你這樣眾多的人民呢﹖」
 列上:3.10   因為撒羅滿求了這件事，獲得了上主的歡心。
 列上:3.11   天主於是對他說﹕「因為你求了這件事，而沒有為你自己求長壽，也沒有為你自己求富貴，也沒有要求你敵人的性命，單單為你自己求了智慧，為能辨明正義。
 列上:3.12   我必照你的話作，賞賜你一顆聰明智慧的心，在你以前沒有像你的人，在你以後，也不會興起一個像你的人。
 列上:3.13   你沒有要求的榮華富貴，我也賞賜你，使你在列王中，一生沒有可與你相比的。
 列上:3.14   如果你履行我的道路，恪守我的法律和我的命令，一如你父親達味所行的，我必要延長你的壽命。」
 列上:3.15   撒羅滿醒來，纔知道原是一夢；以後他回了耶路撒冷，立在上主的約櫃前，奉獻了全燔祭與和平祭，設宴款待了自己所有的臣僕。
 列上:3.16   [撒羅滿斷獄如神]  有一天，有兩個妓女來見君王，立在君王面前。
 列上:3.17   一個女人說﹕「我主，我和這個女人同住一房，在這房裏，我靠著她生了一個孩子。
 列上:3.18   我生產後第三天，這個女子也生了一個孩子。我們住在一起，在這房裏，除我們二人外，再沒有別人住在這房裏。
 列上:3.19   有一夜，這個女子的兒子死了，是因為她睡覺壓死的。
 列上:3.20   她半夜起來，趁你婢女熟睡時，從我身邊抱去我的兒子，放在她懷裡，把她死了的兒子，放在我懷裡。
 列上:3.21   當我清早起來，給孩子餵奶時，發覺孩子死了；及至天亮，我仔細一看，發覺他不是我親生的兒子。」
 列上:3.22   另一個女人說﹕「不是的，活的是我的兒子，死的是你的兒子。」這個女人說﹕「不是的，死的是你的兒子，活的是我的兒子。」她們倆就這樣在君王面前爭論不休。
 列上:3.23   君王說﹕「這一個說﹕活的是我的兒子，死的是你的兒子；那一個說﹕不是的，死的是你的兒子，活的是我的兒子。」
 列上:3.24   君王吩咐說﹕「給我拿把刀來! 」人就給君王拿來了一把刀。
 列上:3.25   君王遂下令說﹕「把那活孩子劈成兩半﹕一半給這一個，一半給那一個。」
 列上:3.26   那活孩子的母親因為愛子心切，就對君王說﹕「我主，請把活孩子給那女人罷! 千萬不要殺他! 」那個女人說﹕「劈開罷! 這孩子不歸我，也不歸你! 」
 列上:3.27   君王於是宣判說﹕「將活孩子給這個女人，不要殺他。這個女人實在是他的母親! 」
 列上:3.28   全以色列人聽了君王所斷的案件，便都尊敬君王，因為他們見他斷案時，具有天主的智慧。
    
 列上:4.1    [撒羅滿的朝臣]  撒羅滿王作王統治全以色列。
 列上:4.2    以下是他所有的官吏﹕匝多克的兒子阿匝黎雅作大司祭，
 列上:4.3    史沙的兩個兒子厄里曷勒夫和阿希雅作書記，阿希路得的兒子約沙特作御史，
 列上:4.4    約雅達的兒子貝納雅統率軍隊，【匝多克和厄貝雅塔爾為司祭，】
 列上:4.5    納堂的兒子阿匝黎雅為太守之長，納堂的兒子匝步得為君王的朋友，
 列上:4.6    阿希沙爾為家宰，阿貝達的兒子阿多尼蘭管理苦役。
 列上:4.7    [十二太守]  撒羅滿另立了十二太守管理全以色列，供應君王和王室的食糧；一年之中每人供應一個月。
 列上:4.8    他們的名字如下﹕胡爾的兒子管理厄弗辣因山地；
 列上:4.9    德刻爾的兒子管理瑪卡茲、沙耳賓、貝特舍默士、阿雅隆及貝特哈南；
 列上:4.10   赫達布的兒子管理阿魯波特、索苛及赫斐爾全地；
 列上:4.11   阿彼納達布的兒子管理多爾全境，他娶了撒落滿的女兒塔法特為妻；
 列上:4.12   阿希路得的兒子巴阿納，管理塔納客、默基多直到約刻默罕外，以及位於依次勒耳下邊的全貝特商，曾貝特商直到靠近匝爾堂的阿貝耳默曷拉；
 列上:4.13   革貝爾的兒子管理辣摩特基肋阿得，和在基肋阿得地的默納協的兒子雅依爾的鄉村；在巴商阿爾哥布地，所有的六十座設有城牆和銅閂的大城市，也歸他管理；
 列上:4.14   依多的兒子阿希納達布管理瑪哈納殷；
 列上:4.15   阿希瑪茲管理納斐塔里，他也娶了撒羅滿的女兒巴色瑪特為妻；
 列上:4.16   胡瑟的兒子巴阿納管理阿協爾和則步隆；
 列上:4.17   帕魯亞的兒童約沙特管理依撒加爾；
 列上:4.18   厄拉的兒子史米管理本雅明；
 列上:4.19   烏黎的兒子革貝爾管理加得，即昔日屬阿摩黎王息紅和巴商王敖格的地區。猶大地區另派太守管理。
 列上:4.20   當時猶大和以色列人數，像海邊的沙粒那麼多；他們有吃有喝，非常快樂。
    
 列上:5.1    [撒羅滿的富貴]  由大河直至培肋舍特人地和埃及邊界諸王國，都在撒羅滿統治下；撒羅滿一生歲月中，這些王國都向他進貢，表示臣服。
 列上:5.2    撒羅滿每月所用的食品﹕細麵十「苛爾，」粗麵六十「苛爾；」
 列上:5.3    肥牛十隻，牧放的牛二十隻，羊一百隻；此外還有鹿、羚羊、麃子和肥禽。
 列上:5.4    因為他統治大河西岸全境，從提斐撒到迦薩，大河西岸諸王都屬他權下，於是四鄰邊境都相安無事。
 列上:5.5    撒羅滿一生歲月中，從丹到貝爾舍巴的猶大和以色列人，都各安居在自己的葡萄樹和無花果樹下。
 列上:5.6    撒羅滿有四千廄套車的馬，並有一萬二千匹坐騎。
 列上:5.7    那些太守每人各按自己的月份，供應撒羅滿王和所有赴撒羅滿王宴席的人，而一無所缺。
 列上:5.8    每人各按所受的命令，將飼養戰馬及駿馬的大麥和草料，送到所指定的地方。
 列上:5.9    [撒羅滿的智慧]  天主賜給了撒羅滿絕大的智慧和聰明，心胸寬大，有如海邊的沙灘。
 列上:5.10   撒羅滿的智慧超過所有東方人和埃及人的一切智慧。
 列上:5.11   他比所有的人更有智慧﹕比則辣黑人厄堂，比瑪曷耳的兒子赫曼、加耳苛耳和達爾達都更有智慧﹔他的聲譽傳遍周圍列國。
 列上:5.12   他說過三千句箴言，作的詩歌有一千五百首。
 列上:5.13   他講論過草木，從黎巴嫩山上長的香柏，到牆上寄生的牛膝草﹔也講論過走獸和飛禽，爬蟲和魚類。
 列上:5.14   為此，萬民和各國的君王，凡聽說撒羅滿智慧的，都來聽他的智慧。
 列上:5.15   [準備建築聖殿]  提洛王希蘭聽說撒羅滿受傳繼父為王，就派自己的僕人去見撒羅滿，因為希蘭一生常是達味的好友。
 列上:5.16   撒羅滿也派人去見希蘭說﹕「
 列上:5.17   你知道我父親達味因了四周的戰爭，在上主沒有將敵人置於他腳下以前，不能為上主他的天主的名建造殿宇。
 列上:5.18   但是現在，上主我的天主使我四周太平，沒有仇敵，也沒有災禍。
 列上:5.19   所以我決意要為上主我天主的名建造殿宇，一如上主對握父親曾說過﹕你的兒子，即我使他繼你坐你寶座的那一位，要為我的名建造殿宇。
 列上:5.20   所以現在，請你吩咐人從黎巴嫩給我砍伐香柏木，我的僕人會與你的僕人一起工作，我必照你所說定的，把你僕人的工資全交給你，因為你知道在我們中間，沒有像漆冬人那樣善於砍伐樹木的。」
 列上:5.21   希蘭聽了撒羅滿的話，非常高興說﹕「上主今日應受讚美，因為他賜給了達味一個有智慧的兒子，統治這個強大的民族。」
 列上:5.22   希蘭遂派人去見撒羅滿說﹕「你派人來向我說的話，我都聽到了﹔至於香柏木和柏木，我必全照你的心願去做。
 列上:5.23   我僕人把這些木料從黎巴嫩運下海中，編成木筏，由海上轉運到你給我指定的地方，我在那裏拆開，你在那裏接收﹔但是，你也要成全我的心願，拿食糧來供應我的宮廷。」
 列上:5.24   希蘭於是全照撒羅滿的要求，供給他香柏木和柏木，
 列上:5.25   撒羅滿則供給希蘭麥子兩萬「苛爾，」純油二十「苛爾，」作為他宮廷的食糧。撒羅滿年年這樣供應希蘭。
 列上:5.26   上主依照所許的，賜給了撒羅滿智慧；希蘭與撒羅滿之間，彼此和好，二人相互訂立了盟約。
 列上:5.27   [徵調工人]  撒羅滿王由全以色列中，徵人服役，共徵調了三萬﹔
 列上:5.28   每月輪流派一萬人上黎巴嫩山﹕一個月在黎巴嫩山，兩個月留在家中﹔由阿多蘭監督勞工。
 列上:5.29   撒羅滿有七萬搬運重物的工人，有八萬在山上工作的石匠﹔
 列上:5.30   此外，還有三千三百監管工作的頭目，指揮人民工作。
 列上:5.31   君王吩咐人開採巨大和貴重的石頭，以鑿好的石頭建築殿宇的基礎。
 列上:5.32   撒羅滿和希蘭的工人，以及革巴耳人都開鑿石頭，預備木料和石頭，建造殿宇。
    
 列上:6.1    [建造聖殿]  以色列子民出離埃及地後四百八十年，撒羅滿作以色列王第四年「齊夫」月，【即二月，】開始建造上主的殿。
 列上:6.2    撒羅滿王為上主所建立的殿，長六十肘，寬二十肘，高三十肘。
 列上:6.3    殿堂前的門廊長二十肘，寬與殿的寬度相等，共十肘，在殿堂之前。
 列上:6.4    又為殿作了窗戶，有窗框和窗櫺。
 列上:6.5    緊靠殿墻，即圍著外殿和內殿的牆，周圍建造了分層廂房﹕
 列上:6.6    下層寬五肘，中層寬六肘，第三層寬七肘﹔使殿周圍對面的牆突出，免得梁木插入殿牆內。
 列上:6.7    建造殿宇時，始終是採用鑿好了的石頭，所以在建殿時，全聽不到槌子、斧子及任何鐵器的響聲。
 列上:6.8    廂房最下層的門，設在殿的右邊，人可從螺旋梯上到中層，由中層上到第三層。
 列上:6.9    殿造完了以後，又用香柏木梁和木板，蓋上了殿頂。
 列上:6.10   殿的四周建立了廂房，每層高五肘，用香柏木梁使之與殿牆相連接。
 列上:6.11   又上主的話傳於撒羅滿說﹕「
 列上:6.12   關於你正在進行建造的這殿，如果你履行我的法律，遵守我的規例，按照我的一切命令行事，我必對你實踐我向你父親達味所說的話，
 列上:6.13   必常住在以色列子民中，永不拋棄我的百姓以色列。」
 列上:6.14   [聖殿內部]  撒羅滿建殿，終於完成。
 列上:6.15   殿內的牆壁全舖上香柏木板，從殿的地面到天花板的櫞、梁，全蓋上木板﹔殿內地面都舖上柏木板。
 列上:6.16   內殿即至聖所，長二十肘，從地板到天花板都概上香柏木板。
 列上:6.17   至聖所前的外殿，長四十肘。
 列上:6.18   殿內的香柏木板上，都刻有匏瓜和初開的花﹕全部都是香柏木，看不到一塊石頭。
 列上:6.19   殿堂內部設又內殿，為安放上主的約櫃。
 列上:6.20   內殿長二十肘，寬二十肘，高二十肘，全都貼上純金﹔他又用香柏木做了一個祭壇，
 列上:6.21   放在內殿前，全都包上金。
 列上:6.22   整個殿宇都貼上金，貼滿了整個殿宇。
 列上:6.23   內殿裏又用橄欖木作了兩個革魯賓，每個高十肘。
 列上:6.24   革魯賓的一個翅膀長五肘，革魯賓的另一個翅膀也長五肘，從一個翅膀尖到另一個翅膀尖，共十肘。
 列上:6.25   另一個革魯賓也是十肘兩個革魯賓，有一樣的尺寸，有一樣的形狀。
 列上:6.26   一個革魯賓高十肘，另一個革魯賓也是如此。
 列上:6.27   兩個革魯賓都安放在內殿，革魯賓的翅膀是伸開的﹕這個革魯賓的一個翅膀靠著這邊的牆，那個革魯賓的一個翅膀靠著那邊的牆，裏面的兩個翅膀，在殿中央相接。
 列上:6.28   兩個革魯賓全包上金。
 列上:6.29   內殿與外殿四周牆壁，都刻有革魯賓、棕樹和花朵初開的形狀。
 列上:6.30   內殿和外殿的地板，都舖上金。
 列上:6.31   內殿的門，是用橄欖木作的，門柱和門框，為五角形。
 列上:6.32   橄欖木的兩門扇上，刻有革魯賓、棕樹和花朵初開的形像。花上包金，革魯賓和棕樹上貼金。
 列上:6.33   外殿的門和門柱也是橄欖木作的，為四角形﹔
 列上:6.34   李扇門都是用柏木作的﹕這一扇有兩葉可以摺疊，那一扇也有兩葉可以摺疊。
 列上:6.35   門上刻有革魯賓、棕樹和花朵初開的形像，雕刻以後，全貼上金。
 列上:6.36   內院的牆，三層是用好的石頭，一層是用香柏木建造的。
 列上:6.37   第四年，「齊夫」月，奠定了上主殿宇的基礎﹔
 列上:6.38   第十一年，「步耳」月【即八月，】上主的殿各部分全依照計劃完成﹔建殿的工作共費時七年。
    
 列上:7.1    [建造宮室]  此後，撒羅滿為自己建造宮室，十三年方纔完成。
 列上:7.2    他建造的，有黎巴嫩林宮，長一百肘，寬五十肘，高三十肘；有三行香柏木柱子，柱子上端有香柏木托梁。
 列上:7.3    上面蓋上香柏木板；每行十五根柱子，共有四十五根。
 列上:7.4    窗戶有三排，三排窗戶彼此相對。
 列上:7.5    門和窗戶都是方形；三層窗戶都彼此相對。
 列上:7.6    又造了有圓柱的大廳，長五十肘，寬三十肘；大廳前面另有一個廊子，廊子前面有柱子和頂蓋。
 列上:7.7    他又造了一廳，中間設有審判的座位，在那裏審案；從地面到梁，都是用香柏木舖蓋的。
 列上:7.8    廳後的另一院內，有君王住的宮室，建築式樣，完全與審判廳相同；為君王所娶的法郎公主，也建造了與審判廳相同的宮室。
 列上:7.9    從外院直到大院的這一切建築，從地基到屋頂，都是用按尺寸鑿好，用鋸內外鋸平的寶貴石頭建造的。
 列上:7.10   地基也都是用貴重巨大的石頭砌成的，有的十肘長，有的八肘長；
 列上:7.11   上面有按尺寸鑿好的貴重石頭和香柏木。
 列上:7.12   大院四周的牆有三層鑿好的石頭和一層香柏木板；上主的殿宇的內院和殿廊，都包圍在內。
 列上:7.13   [兩根銅柱]  撒羅滿王派人由提洛將希蘭接來。
 列上:7.14   希蘭是納斐塔里支派一個寡婦的兒子，他父親是提洛的一個銅匠；他多才多藝，會做一切銅工。他來到撒羅滿前，為他做一切工作，
 列上:7.15   鑄了兩根銅柱：一根高十八肘，周徑十二肘，四指厚，中空；另一根也是這樣。
 列上:7.16   製了兩個銅鑄的智頭，安在柱子頂端：一個柱頭五肘，另一個柱頭也高五肘。
 列上:7.17   他又製了兩個銅網，為遮護柱子頂端的柱頭：這一個柱頭有一個銅網，另一個柱頭也有一個銅網。
 列上:7.18   在網子周圍，又製了兩行石榴，遮住柱頭：兩個柱頭都是如此。
 列上:7.19   柱子頂端上的柱頭，刻有百合花形像，四肘高。
 列上:7.20   兩根柱子頂端上的柱頭突起處，網子後面，各有石榴二百個，分行圍繞著。
 列上:7.21   他將兩根柱子豎立在殿廊的前面：給立在右邊的柱子，起名叫雅津；給立在左邊的柱子，起名叫波阿次：
 列上:7.22   這樣，柱子的工作就算完成了。
 列上:7.23   [銅海]  他又鑄造了一座銅海，圓形，直徑十肘，高五肘，周徑三十肘。
 列上:7.24   銅海邊緣下面周圍有匏瓜，每肘十個，四面圍繞著銅海；匏瓜分成兩行，是鑄銅海時鑄上去的。
 列上:7.25   銅海安放在十二隻銅牛上；三隻向北，三隻向西，三隻向南，三隻向東。銅海安放在牛背上，牛尾朝裏。
 列上:7.26   銅海厚一掌，邊像杯邊，形似百合花，可容兩千「巴特。」
 列上:7.27   [盆與盆座]  又鑄造了十個銅盆座，每個長四肘，寬四肘，高三肘。
 列上:7.28   盆座的造法是這樣：盆座有鑲板，鑲板裝入框架內，
 列上:7.29   在框架中間的鑲板上刻有獅子、牛和革魯賓的形像，在框架上也有雕刻；獅子和牛的形像下，刻有花紋浮雕。
 列上:7.30   每個盆座有四個銅輪和銅軸；盆底有四腳作支柱，支柱是鑄成的；每邊都刻有花紋。
 列上:7.31   盆座的口，從座底至口邊高一肘半；口成圓形，為安放銅盆之用；在口的邊緣上也有雕刻；盆座的鑲板是四方形的，而不是圓形的。
 列上:7.32   四個輪子是在鑲板之下，輪軸與座底相接；輪子高一肘半。
 列上:7.33   輪子的製法和車輪的製法一樣，輪軸、輪輞、輪輻和輪轂，都是鑄成的。
 列上:7.34   每個盆座有四根支柱支持四角，支柱與盆座是一塊鑄成的。
 列上:7.35   盆座頂上有一個圓架，高半肘；在座頂上有柄，鑲板與座是一塊鑄成的。
 列上:7.36   鑲板壁上刻有革魯賓、獅子和棕樹；四周空處另刻有花紋。
 列上:7.37   十個盆座都是這樣做的：鑄法、尺寸和式樣完全相同。
 列上:7.38   又製了十個銅盆，每個銅盆可容四十「巴特；」每個銅盆高四肘；十個銅盆座上，每個安放一個銅盆。
 列上:7.39   他把盆座，五個放在殿的右邊，五個放在殿的左邊；至於銅海，他放在殿右靠東南方。
 列上:7.40   [希蘭所製物品]  希蘭又製造了鍋、鏟和盤：這樣，希蘭為撒羅滿作完了上主殿宇的一切工作：
 列上:7.41   計有柱子兩根，柱子頂端球形的柱頭兩個，遮護柱子頂端球形柱頭的網子兩個，
 列上:7.42   兩個網子上的石榴四百個，─每個網子上有兩行石榴，為遮護柱子頂端的兩個球形柱頭，
 列上:7.43   盆座十個，放在座上的盆子十個，
 列上:7.44   銅海一個，銅海下的銅牛十二隻，
 列上:7.45   鍋鏟和盤：以上一切器皿，都是希蘭給撒羅滿用光滑的銅，為上主的殿製造的，
 列上:7.46   是他在約旦平原，穌苛特與匝爾堂之間，用膠泥模鑄成的。
 列上:7.47   撒羅滿沒有秤量這一切器皿，因為銅太多，重量無法計算。
 列上:7.48   以後撒羅滿又製造了上主殿內的一切用具：就是金祭壇，供餅的金桌，
 列上:7.49   內殿前的燈臺，五個在右邊，五個在左邊，都是純金的；還有花蕊、燈盞、燭剪，也是金的。
 列上:7.50   又有盆、刀、碗、杯、火盤，都是純金的；還有內殿既至聖所，和正殿的門樞，都是金的。
 列上:7.51   撒羅滿就這樣完成了為上主的殿所作的一切工作。撒羅滿將他父親達味所奉獻的銀子、金子和器皿運了來，存放在上主殿宇的府庫內。
    
 列上:8.1    [迎約櫃入聖殿]  那時，撒羅滿召集以色列眾長老，各支派的首領和以色列子民各家族族長，都到耶路撒冷，為將上主的約櫃從達味城，即熙雍運上來。
 列上:8.2    以色列全體民眾於是在「厄塔寧」月，即第七月的慶節期中，聚集在撒羅滿王那裏。
 列上:8.3    以色列所有的長老來到後，司祭們便抬起約櫃，
 列上:8.4    司祭和肋未人分別將上主的約櫃、會幕和帳幕中所有的聖器運了上來。
 列上:8.5    撒羅滿王和聚集在他那裏的以色列全會眾，在約櫃前祭殺了牛羊，多得無法計算，不可勝數。
 列上:8.6    司祭們將上主的約櫃抬到殿的內部，即至聖所內，放在革魯賓翅膀下早已預備的地方。
 列上:8.7    革魯賓的翅膀原是伸開的，正遮在約櫃的所在地之上，所以革魯賓在上面正遮著約櫃和抬約櫃的杠桿。
 列上:8.8    這杠桿很長，杠桿從內殿前的聖所可以看見，在殿外卻看不見；直到今天還在那裏。
 列上:8.9    約櫃內除兩塊石版外，沒有別的東西，是以色列子民出埃及後，上主與他們立約時，梅瑟在曷勒布山放在裏面的。
 列上:8.10   當司祭從聖所出來時，雲彩充滿了上主的殿，
 列上:8.11   以致為了雲彩，司祭們不能繼續奉職，因為上主的榮耀充滿了上主的殿。
 列上:8.12   當時，撒羅滿便說：「上主曾決定在幽暗之中，
 列上:8.13   如今我已為你建築了一個居所，作為你永久的住處」
 列上:8.14   [撒羅滿向百姓致辭]  然後，君王轉過身來，祝福在場站立的以色列全會眾，
 列上:8.15   說「上主以色列的天主，應受讚美! 因為他親自完成了他親口對我父親達味所作的預許。他曾說過：
 列上:8.16   自從我領我的百姓以色列出離埃及的那天起，我從未在以色列各支派中選擇一城，建造一座作我名下的殿。但是現在，我選擇了耶路撒冷作我名的居所，揀選了達味作我百姓以色列的領袖。
 列上:8.17   我父親達味原有意為上主以色列天主的名，建造一座殿宇，
 列上:8.18   但上主卻對我父親達味說：你有意為我的名建造一座殿宇，你這番心意固然很好，
 列上:8.19   但不是你要建造這殿宇，而是你親生的兒子，他要為我的名建造這殿宇。
 列上:8.20   現在，上主實現了他說的話，我已如上主所說的，繼承了我父親達味，坐上了以色列的寶座；我也為上主以色列天主的名，建造了這座殿宇，
 列上:8.21   在殿內我也為約櫃預備了一個地方，約櫃內存有上主的約版，就是他領我們的祖先出埃及時，與他們所立的約。」
 列上:8.22   [祈禱詞]  此後，撒羅滿當著以色列全會眾，立在上主的祭壇前，舉手向天，說：
 列上:8.23   「上主，以色列的天主! 上天下地沒有一個神能與你相比。你對那全心在你面前行走的僕人，常是守約表示慈愛。
 列上:8.24   你對你僕人我父親達味所應許的，你都履行了；你親口應允的，你也親手成就了，正如今天一樣。
 列上:8.25   上主，以色列的天主，現在求你實踐你向你的僕人，我的父親達味所應許的罷! 你曾說過：只要你的子孫固守正道，在我面前行走，如你一樣在我面前行走，你決不缺人在我面前坐以色列的寶座。
 列上:8.26   上主，以色列的天主，現在求你，使你向你僕人我父親達味所應許的話，予以實現罷!
 列上:8.27   但是，天主實在住在地上嗎﹖看，天和天上的天尚且容不下你，何況我所建造的這座殿宇呢﹖
 列上:8.28   上主，我的天主，請垂允你僕人的祈禱和懇求，俯聽你僕人今天在你面前所發的呼號和祈禱!
 列上:8.29   願你的眼睛晝夜垂視這座殿宇，看顧你所說「我的名要永留在此」的地方! 願你垂聽你僕人向這地方要行的祈禱!
 列上:8.30   願你垂聽你僕人和百姓以色列向這地方所發的哀禱! 願你在天上，從你的居所予以垂聽! 請垂聽與寬恕!
 列上:8.31   若有人得罪了自己的鄰人，被迫以咒詞起誓，而來到這殿內，在你的祭壇前起誓，
 列上:8.32   願你從天上垂聽受理，為你的僕人審斷：懲罰惡人，照他的惡行，報應在他的頭上；宣告義人無罪，照他的正義酬報他。
 列上:8.33   當你的百姓以色列犯罪得罪了你，在敵人面前被擊敗時，如果他們回心轉意，稱頌你的名，在這殿內巷你祈禱懇求，
 列上:8.34   願你從天上予以垂聽，寬恕你百姓以色列的罪過，領他們回到你賜給他們祖先的地方!
 列上:8.35   幾時他們犯罪得罪了你，致使天空閉塞不雨；如果他們向這地方祈禱，稱頌你的名，並因你的懲罰而遠離罪過，
 列上:8.36   求你從天上垂聽，赦免你僕人和你百姓以色列的罪，指給他們應走的正路，使雨降在你賜予你百姓作為基業的地上。
 列上:8.37   如果此地發生饑饉瘟疫，五穀枯萎生霉，或遭受蝗蟲螞蚱，或有敵人犯境圍困門下，或不拘遭受什麼災禍疾病；
 列上:8.38   如果你的百姓以色列，個人或團體，心中感到內疚，向這殿伸手祈禱哀求，
 列上:8.39   願你從天上你的居所，予以垂聽、寬恕、援助，照各人的作為予以賞罰，因為你認識人的心，─惟有你認識所有人子的心，─
 列上:8.40   使他們在你賜予我們祖先的地上，終生敬畏你。
 列上:8.41   至於那不屬於你百姓以色列的外方人，如為了你的大名自遠方而來，─
 列上:8.42   因為他們聽見了你的大名，和你大能的手及伸開的手臂，─來向這殿祈禱，
 列上:8.43   願你從天上你的居所俯聽，照外方人所請求於你的一切去行：這樣可使地上萬民都認識你的名而敬畏你，如同你的百姓以色列一樣，使他們知道我所建造的這殿，是屬於你名下的。
 列上:8.44   你的人民，如果在你派遣他們所走的路上，與敵人交戰，而他們向你所揀選的這城，向我為你名建造的這殿，祈求上主，
 列上:8.45   願你從天上俯聽他們的祈禱和哀求，為他們住持正義。
 列上:8.46   如果他們犯罪得罪了你，─因為沒有不犯罪的人，─而你向他們發怒，將他們交於敵人，讓敵人將他們擄到或遠或近的敵人地域內，
 列上:8.47   他們若在被擄往的地方，回心轉意，在充軍之地，求你說：我們犯了罪，我們行了惡，做了背理的事；
 列上:8.48   如果他們在俘擄他們的敵人地域內，全心全意歸向你，向你賜給他們祖先的地方，向你所揀選的這城，和我為你名建造的這殿哀求你，
 列上:8.49   願你從天上你的居所，俯聽他們的祈禱和懇求，並為他們主持正義，
 列上:8.50   寬恕得罪你的百姓，寬恕他們違犯你的一切過犯，使他們在俘擄他們的敵人面前獲得憐憫，對他們表示同情，
 列上:8.51   因為他們究竟是你的百姓，是你從埃及，由鎔鐵爐中領出來的產業。
 列上:8.52   願你常睜眼垂顧你僕人的哀求，你百姓以色列的哀求，他們無論何時呼號你，願你都予以垂聽!
 列上:8.53   我主上主，因為你曾將他們從地上的萬民中選拔出來，作你的產業，正如你在領我們祖先出離埃及時，藉你的僕人梅瑟所聲明的。」
 列上:8.54   [祝福詞]  撒羅滿跪在上主的祭壇前，舉手向天，祈禱哀求上主完畢，就起來，
 列上:8.55   立著，高聲祝福以色列全會眾說：
 列上:8.56   「上主應受讚美! 因為他照自己所應許的，使自己的百姓以色列獲得了安居；凡他藉著自己的僕人梅瑟所應許賜福的話，一句也沒有落空。
 列上:8.57   願上主我們的天主與我們同在，有如與我們的祖先同在一樣：不離開我們，也不拋棄我們。
 列上:8.58   願他使我們的心歸向他，履行他的一切道路，恪守他吩咐我們祖先的誡命、律例和典章。
 列上:8.59   願我在上主面前所作的懇切禱詞，晝夜在上主我們的天主面前，好使他天天維護他僕人和他的百姓以色列，
 列上:8.60   使地上萬民都知道：只有上主是天主，他以外沒有別的神。
 列上:8.61   但願我們的心全歸於上主我們的天主，遵行他的律例，恪守他的誡命，如停今天一樣。」
 列上:8.62   [行奉獻禮]  此後，君王和全以色列，一同在上主面前祭殺了犧牲。
 列上:8.63   撒羅滿祭殺了牛兩萬二千頭，羊十二萬隻，獻於上主，作為和平祭；君王和全以色列子民，就這樣為上主的殿舉行了奉獻禮。
 列上:8.64   當天，君王又祝聖了上主殿前的內院，在那裏奉獻了全燔祭、素祭與和平祭的脂油，因為上主面前的銅祭壇太小，容不下全燔祭、素祭及和平祭的脂油。
 列上:8.65   同時，撒羅滿有舉行了慶節，與從哈瑪特渡口到埃及小河的全以色列人，舉行了盛大集會，在上主我們的天主面前，舉行慶節七天【又七天，共十四天。】
 列上:8.66   第八天，君王遣散了百姓；他們為君王祝福後，各自回了本家，對上主向他的僕人達味，他的百姓以色列，所施的種種恩寵，都非常高興歡喜。
    
 列上:9.1    [上主再次顯現]  撒羅滿建造完了上主的殿、王宮和他所喜歡建造的一切建築物以後，
 列上:9.2    上主第二次顯現給撒羅滿，像在基貝紅顯現給他一樣。
 列上:9.3    上主對他說：「我已應允了你在我面前所行的祈禱和哀求，我也祝聖了你所建築的這殿，將我的名永遠安放在那裏，我的眼和我的心，也將時常留在那裏。
 列上:9.4    至於你，如果你在我面前行走，像你父親達味那樣行走，心地純樸，公正無私，遵守我所吩咐你的一切，恪守我的法律和點章，
 列上:9.5    我必永遠鞏固你在以色列中的王位，照我應許你父親達味所說：你的子孫中，決不缺人坐上以色列的寶座。
 列上:9.6    但是，如果你們或你們的子孫遠離我，不遵守我給你們頒賜的誡命和律例，而去服侍敬拜別的神，
 列上:9.7    我必要將以色列從我賜給他們的地面上除掉，而我為我的名所祝聖的這殿，我也必要棄之不顧，使以色列成為萬民中的話柄和笑談，
 列上:9.8    這殿要成為廢墟，凡從這裏經過的人，都要驚愕嗟歎說：上主為什麼這樣對待了這地和這殿﹖
 列上:9.9    人必回答說：是因為他們離棄了領他們祖先出離埃及的上主，他們的天主，而歸依、崇拜、服侍了別的神，為此，上主使這一切災禍臨到他們的身上。」
 列上:9.10   [撒羅滿與希蘭的交易]  撒羅滿費時二十年，纔完成了那兩大殿宇：即上主的殿宇和君王的宮殿。
 列上:9.11   其間提洛王希蘭曾依照撒羅滿的要求，供給了他香柏木、柏木和黃金。此時撒羅滿王便將加里肋亞境內二十座城，送給了希蘭。
 列上:9.12   希蘭從提洛前來，觀看撒羅滿送給他的城，一見就不滿意，
 列上:9.13   說「吾兄，你送給我的這些城，是什麼城﹖」因此直到今日，這些城仍稱為加步耳地。
 列上:9.14   希蘭原送給了撒羅滿王一百二十「塔冷通」黃金。
 列上:9.15   [建城造船]  此段記載撒羅滿徵夫服役，建造上主的殿、王宮、米羅、耶路撒冷的城牆、哈祚爾、默基多、革則爾、【
 列上:9.16   以前，埃及王法郎曾上來，攻取了革則爾，放火燒城，屠殺了城裏的客納罕人，將這城賜給了自己的女兒，撒羅滿的妻子，作為妝奩。
 列上:9.17   為此撒羅滿重修了革則爾。】下貝特曷龍、
 列上:9.18   巴拉特和境內靠近曠野的塔瑪爾、
 列上:9.19   撒羅滿所有的貯貨城、屯車城和養馬城，以及撒羅滿在耶路撒冷，在黎巴嫩，在他管轄的各地內，喜歡建造的一切建築物。
 列上:9.20   至於不屬於以色列子民的阿摩黎人、赫特人、培黎齊人、希威人和耶步斯人的遺族，
 列上:9.21   就是以色列人子民未能消滅而留在地方上的外族子孫，撒羅滿都徵來充作苦役，直到今天。
 列上:9.22   至於以色列子民，他不令他們作苦役，只叫他們服兵役，作朝臣、將帥、軍官、戰車長和騎兵長。
 列上:9.23   管理撒羅滿工程的主任官員，計有五百五十人，他們負責監督作工人。
 列上:9.24   法郎的女兒從達味城，搬進撒羅滿為她建造的宮室之後，撒羅滿纔開始建造米羅。
 列上:9.25   撒羅滿每年三次在他建的祭壇上，向上主奉獻全燔祭與和平祭，在上主面前的香壇上焚香；又常修理聖殿。
 列上:9.26   此後，撒羅滿王又在厄東城，紅海之濱，靠近厄拉特的厄茲雍革貝爾建造船隻。
 列上:9.27   希蘭派遣自己的臣僕，善於航海的船員，與撒羅滿的僕人同船航行，
 列上:9.28   去了敖非爾，從那裏裝載了四百二十「塔冷通」黃金，運到撒羅滿王那裏。
    
 列上:10.1   [舍巴女王來訪]  舍巴女王聽說撒羅滿因上主之名獲得的聲望，即前來以難題考問撒羅滿。
 列上:10.2   她帶了許多隨員，駱駝裝載大批的香料、黃金和寶石，來到了耶路撒冷；當她進見撒羅滿時，就向他提出了心中的一切疑難，
 列上:10.3   撒羅滿對她所問的一切難題，一一給她解答了，沒有一樣可難住君王，而不能給她解答的。
 列上:10.4   舍巴女王看見了撒羅滿的種種智慧和建造的宮殿，
 列上:10.5   筵席上的餚饌，群臣的坐次，僕從的侍候和服裝，供應的飲料，以及他在上主殿內奉獻的全燔祭，驚訝得出神，
 列上:10.6   因而對君王說：「關於你的言行和智慧，我在我國內所聽到的傳說，的確是真的!
 列上:10.7   以前我原不相信這些傳聞，及至我來親眼見了，纔知道人告訴我的還不及一半；你的智慧和你的富貴遠超過我所聽聞的。
 列上:10.8   你的妻妾，你的臣僕，能常常侍立在你面前，使你坐了以色列的王位；
 列上:10.9   上主因為永遠喜愛以色列，纔立你為王，秉公行義。」
 列上:10.10  舍巴女王遂將一百二十「塔冷通」黃金，大批香料和寶石，贈送給君王；以後進入的香料，再沒有像舍巴女王送給撒羅滿的那樣多。
 列上:10.11  從敖非爾運金子的希蘭船隻，也從敖非爾運來了大批檀香木和寶石。
 列上:10.12  君王用檀香木，為上主的殿和君王的宮殿製造了欄杆，又為歌詠者製造了琴和瑟；以後再沒有這樣的檀香木運進來，也沒有人再看見過，直到今天。
 列上:10.13  撒羅滿王除了照王的寬洪大量送給舍巴女王的禮品外，凡女王所要求的喜愛的物品，君王都送給了她。以後，她和自己的臣僕走了，回了本國。
 列上:10.14  [撒羅滿的財富]  撒羅滿每年收入的金子，重量有六百六十六「塔冷通；」
 列上:10.15  由商人、小販、各國君王和本國太守所進獻的，尚不計算在內。
 列上:10.16  撒羅滿王用黃金打造了二百個大盾牌，每個用金六百「協刻耳。」
 列上:10.17  有用黃金打造了三百個小盾牌，每個用金三「米納。」君王把這些盾牌，都放在黎巴嫩林宮。
 列上:10.18  君王又用象牙製造了一個大寶座，用純金包鑲。
 列上:10.19  寶座有六級台階，座背後有牛頭，座位兩邊有扶手，扶手兩旁立著兩隻獅子。
 列上:10.20  六級台階上立著十二隻獅子，每邊六隻。任何國家都沒有像這樣的寶座。
 列上:10.21  撒羅滿王所有飲器都是金的，黎巴嫩林宮的一切器具，都是純金的，沒有一件是銀子的；銀子在撒羅滿時代並不值什麼。
 列上:10.22  因為君王有一隊塔爾史士船隻，與希蘭的船隻一同航海；去塔爾史士的船隻，每三年往返一次，運來金、銀、象牙、猿猴和孔雀。
 列上:10.23  [撒羅滿的智慧]  這樣，撒羅滿王在富貴和智慧上，超過了世上所有的君王。
 列上:10.24  全世界上的人都想見撒羅滿的面，聽聽天主賦於他心中的智慧。
 列上:10.25  各人給他帶來自己的禮物：銀器、金器、衣服、兵器、香料、駿馬和騾子：年年都是如此。
 列上:10.26  [撒羅滿的馬車]  撒羅滿也積聚了戰車和騎兵；他擁有戰車一千四百輛，騎兵一萬二千，駐紮在屯車城和耶路撒冷君王左右。
 列上:10.27  君王在耶路撒冷有的銀子多如石頭，香柏木多如平原的桑樹。
 列上:10.28  撒羅滿所有的馬，都是從慕茲黎和科厄運來的，是君王的商人付出定價，從科厄買來的。
 列上:10.29  從慕茲黎運來一輛戰車，需銀六百「協刻耳；」一匹馬，需銀一百五十「協刻耳。」同樣，為赫特人和阿蘭人的君王輸送車馬，也是經過這些商人。
    
 列上:11.1   [撒羅滿敬拜邪神]  撒羅滿除了法郎的公主外，又愛上了許多外國女子：即摩阿布女子，阿孟女子，厄東女子，漆冬女子，赫特女子。
 列上:11.2   關於這些民族，上主曾吩咐以色列子民說：「你們不可到他們中間去，他們也不可到你們中間來，否則他們必會引誘你們的心，傾向他們的神。」但是，撒羅滿卻戀愛這些女子。
 列上:11.3   他有七百個各地公主為妻妾，另外還有三百妃子；這些妻妾終於敗壞了他的心。
 列上:11.4   當撒羅滿年老的時候，這些妻妾迷惑了他的心，勾引他去崇拜別的神；他的心已不像他父親達味的心，全屬於上主他的天主。
 列上:11.5   這樣，他隨從了漆冬人的女神阿市托勒特和阿孟人的可憎之物米耳公。
 列上:11.6   撒羅滿作了上主眼中視為惡的事，不像他父親達味那樣全心服從上主。
 列上:11.7   那時，撒羅滿在耶路撒冷東面的山上，為摩阿布人的可憎之物革摩士，為阿孟子民的可憎之物摩肋客，修築了丘壇。
 列上:11.8   他為所有的外國妻妾，都修築了丘壇，各給自己的神焚香獻祭。
 列上:11.9   [上主發怒警告]  上主遂向撒羅滿發怒，因為他的心偏離了兩次顯現給他的上主以色列的天主。
 列上:11.10  當時，上主對此事曾吩咐過他，不可去隨從別的神，但他卻沒有遵守上主的命令。
 列上:11.11  於是，上主對撒羅滿說：「你既然這樣行事，不遵守我的盟約，和我吩咐你的誡命，我必要奪去你的王國，賜給你的一個臣僕。
 列上:11.12  雖然如此，但為了你父親達味的緣故，在你有生之日，我不作這事；我將要由你兒子手中奪去。
 列上:11.13  但是仍不完全奪去，為了我僕人達味和我所揀選的耶路撒冷，我仍給你的兒子留下一支派。」
 列上:11.14  [撒羅滿的外患]  那時，上主興起一個反抗撒羅滿的人，就是厄東王的後裔，厄東人哈達得。
 列上:11.15  當達味打敗厄東後，軍長約阿布前去埋葬陣亡的人時，殺了厄東所有的男子；
 列上:11.16  約阿布和全以色列在厄東逗留了六個月，直到將厄東所有的男子完全殺掉。
 列上:11.17  哈達得卻同他父親的幾個臣僕厄東人逃往埃及，那時哈達得還很年輕。
 列上:11.18  他們從米德楊起身，到了帕蘭，從帕蘭又帶了些人到埃及，投奔埃及王法郎；法郎給了他一座房屋，供給他食用，又給了他一塊土地。
 列上:11.19  哈達得在法郎眼前很是得寵，因此將自己的妻子塔培乃斯王后的妹妹，嫁給他為妻。
 列上:11.20  塔培乃斯的妹妹給哈達得生了一個兒子叫革奴巴特。塔培乃斯在法郎宮中撫養他，因此革奴巴特便住在法郎宮中，同法郎的公子們一起。
 列上:11.21  哈達得在埃及聽說達味已與他的列祖同眠，軍長約阿布也已去世，便對法郎說：「請讓我走，回到我故鄉去! 」
 列上:11.22  法郎對他說：「你在我這裏缺少什麼，竟想回到你的故鄉去﹖」他回答說：「什麼也不缺，只求你讓我回去! 」
 列上:11.23  天主又興起一個反抗撒羅滿的人，就是厄肋雅達的兒子勒宗。他由自己的主人祚巴王哈達德則爾前出走。
 列上:11.24  在達味擊殺阿蘭人時，聚集了一些人，作了土匪頭目，去了大馬士革，盤踞在那裏，做了大馬士革王。
 列上:11.25  撒羅滿有生之日，勒宗始終與以色列為敵。哈達得就回了國。哈達得的危害，即在於他作了厄東的君王，不斷騷擾以色列。
 列上:11.26  [撒羅滿的內憂]  厄弗辣大地責勒達人，乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕，─他的母親名叫責魯阿，是個寡婦─原是撒羅滿的臣僕，他也起來反抗君王。
 列上:11.27  他反抗君王的原委是這樣：當時撒羅滿正在建築米羅，修葺他父親達味城的裂口；
 列上:11.28  雅洛貝罕這個人原很有才能，撒羅滿見這少年人很能做事，便派他監督若瑟族的一切勞役。
 列上:11.29  有一次，雅洛貝罕走出耶路撒冷，史羅的先知阿希雅在路上遇見了他；先知身上穿著一件新外衣，在田間只有他們二人。
 列上:11.30  阿希雅便拿起他所穿的新外衣，撕成了十二塊，
 列上:11.31  然後對雅洛貝罕說：「你拿十塊，因為上主以色列的天主這樣說：看，我必將撒羅滿手中的王國撕裂，將十個支派交給你。
 列上:11.32  為了我僕人達味，和我從以色列支派中選的耶路撒冷城的緣故，仍給他留下一支派，
 列上:11.33  因為他背棄了我，崇拜了漆冬人的女神阿市托勒特、摩阿布人的神革摩士和阿孟人的神米耳公。他沒有像他父親達味那樣履行我的道路，行我視為正義的事，恪守我的律例和誡命。
 列上:11.34  但我不願從他手中奪去整個王國，我要使他有生之日作首領，是為了我所選的僕人達味的緣故，因為他遵守了我的誡命和律例。
 列上:11.35  我卻意從他兒子的手中奪回王國，給你十個支派，
 列上:11.36  只留下一個支派給他的兒子，使我的僕人達味，在我所揀選立我名的耶路撒冷城中，在我面前常有一盞明燈。
 列上:11.37  我選取你，使你隨意統治一切，作以色列的君王。
 列上:11.38  如果你聽從我吩咐你的一切，履行我的道路，行我視為正義的事，恪守我的律例和誡命，如同我的僕人達味一樣，我必與你同在，為你建立一鞏固的家室，像我為達味所建立的一樣。我將以色列交給你，
 列上:11.39  藉以貶抑達味的後裔，但不致於久遠。」
 列上:11.40  因此，撒羅滿想殺害雅洛貝罕，雅洛貝罕遂起身逃往埃及，投奔埃及王史沙克；他住埃及，直到撒羅滿逝世。
 列上:11.41  [撒羅滿逝世]  撒羅滿其餘的事蹟，他的一切作為和智慧，都記載在撒羅滿實錄上。
 列上:11.42  撒羅滿在耶路撒冷作王，統治全以色列，凡四十年。
 列上:11.43  撒羅滿與他的列祖同眠，葬在他父親達味城內；他的兒子勒哈貝罕繼位為王。
    
           中編猶大以色列兩國史(-列下)
    
 列上:12.1   [分裂近因]  勒哈貝罕去了舍根，因為全以色列集合在舍根，要立他為王。
 列上:12.2   乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕，為躲避撒羅滿王，曾逃往埃及，現在聽說撒羅滿已死，便從挨家埃及回來了。
 列上:12.3   有人派人請了他回來，他便和以色列全會眾前來，對勒哈貝罕說：「
 列上:12.4   你的父親使我們的負擔繁重，現在，你得減輕你父親加給我們的苦役和重軛，我們纔肯服事你。」
 列上:12.5   他回答他們說：「你們暫時回去，三天以後再來見我。」人民就都走了。
 列上:12.6   勒哈貝罕便同那些在他父親撒羅滿生時，作臣僕的老年人商議說：「依你們的意見，我該怎樣答覆這些民眾﹖」
 列上:12.7   他們回答說：「如果你今天願意作這民眾的僕人，服事他們，答應他們，對他們說好話，他們必會常常服事你。」
 列上:12.8   但是，君王竟拒絕了老年人給他出的主意，反去同那些與他一起長大，侍立在他面前的少年商議，
 列上:12.9   問他們說：「這些人民對我說：請你將你父親加於我們的重軛減輕些。依你們的意見我該怎樣答覆他們﹖」
 列上:12.10  這些與他一起長大的少年人答說：「這些人民對你說：你父親使我們負擔繁重，請你給我們減輕些! 你要回答他們，對他們這樣說：我的小指比我父親的腰還粗!
 列上:12.11  我父親曾加重了你們的重擔，我更要加重你們的重擔；我父親用皮鞭責打你們，我卻要用鐵刺鞭責打你們! 」
 列上:12.12  雅洛貝罕和全體人民照君王所說：「你們第三天再來見我」的話，第三天就來見勒哈貝罕。
 列上:12.13  君王嚴厲答覆了人民，拋棄了老年人給他出的主意，
 列上:12.14  卻依照少年人的主張，對民眾說：「我的父親加重了你們的重擔，我更要加重，我父親用皮鞭責打你們，我反要用鐵刺鞭責打你們。」
 列上:12.15  君王始終不肯聽從民眾。這一轉變原是出於上主，為實現他自己的話，就是上主藉史羅人阿希雅對乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕所說的話。
 列上:12.16  [政治分裂]  全以色列人見君王不肯依他們，便回覆君王說﹕「我們與達味有什麼分子﹖我們與葉瑟的兒子毫無關係! 以色列! 回到你的帳幕去啊! 達味啊! 現在你只顧你的本家罷! 」以色列人於是都回了自己的帳幕，
 列上:12.17  只有那些住在猶大城市的以色列子民，仍屬勒哈貝罕統治。
 列上:12.18  勒哈貝罕王派遣監管勞役的阿多蘭，去見以色列，以色列人卻用石頭將它砸死，勒哈貝罕急忙上車，逃回了耶路撒冷。
 列上:12.19  這樣，以色列便與達味家分離了，直到現在。
 列上:12.20  那時，全以色列人聽說雅洛貝罕已經回來，便派人邀請它前來赴會，立他為王，統治全以色列；從此跟隨達味家的，只有猷大支派。
 列上:12.21  勒哈貝罕一回到耶路撒冷，即刻召集猶大全家和本雅明支派所有十八萬善戰的精兵，要去攻打以色列家，想把王國奪回，再歸屬撒羅滿的兒子勒哈貝罕；
 列上:12.22  但是，天主有話傳於天主的人舍瑪雅說﹕「
 列上:12.23  你去告訴撒羅滿的兒子，猶大王勒哈貝罕，猶大全家和本雅明以及其餘的人民說﹕
 列上:12.24  上主這樣說﹕你們不要前去，攻打你們的兄弟以色列人，你們各自回家去罷! 因為這事原出於我。」他們便聽從了上主的話，依照上主的話回去了。
 列上:12.25  [宗教分裂]  雅洛貝罕在厄弗辣因山地修築了舍根，住在那裏；又從那裏出來，修築了培奴耳。
 列上:12.26  雅洛貝罕心中思量﹕「這王國遲早要歸於達味王室；
 列上:12.27  如果這人民上耶路撒冷，在上主殿內獻祭，他們的心難免不歸向他們的主上猶大勒哈貝罕，把我打死，再歸屬於猶大王勒哈貝罕。」
 列上:12.28  因此，雅洛貝罕王拿定了主意，製造了兩隻金牛犢，對人民說﹕，「你們不需要再上耶路撒冷去了；以色列! 看，這就是領你們由埃及地上來的天主! 」
 列上:12.29  他將一隻供在貝特耳，一隻供在丹。
 列上:12.30  這使以色列陷於罪惡，因為民眾竟遠至丹去敬拜另一隻。
 列上:12.31  雅貝洛罕又在高丘建立了神殿，將不屬於肋末子孫的平民立為司祭；
 列上:12.32  規定八月十五日舉行慶節，像在猶大所舉行的慶節一樣，親自上壇獻祭。他也如此在貝特耳向他所製造的牛犢獻了祭，並在貝特耳為他建造的高丘神壇，委派了司祭。
 列上:12.33  在他隨意選定的八月十五日，他親自上了他在貝特耳所築的祭壇，為以色列子民舉行慶節，上壇焚香獻祭。
    
 列上:13.1   [先知警告雅洛貝罕]  正值雅洛貝罕站在祭壇那裏要獻祭焚香時，有一天主的人，奉上主的命，從猶大來到貝特耳，
 列上:13.2   以上主的名義對祭壇呼喊說﹕「祭壇，祭壇! 上主這樣說﹕看，達味家要生一個兒子，名叫約史雅，他要在你上面祭殺那些在你上面焚香獻祭的高丘司祭，人們的骨骸也要在你上面焚燒。」
 列上:13.3   同時，他又提出一個預兆說﹕「這是上主所說的預兆﹕看，這祭壇要破裂，上面的灰要傾撒下來。」
 列上:13.4   雅洛貝罕王一聽見天主的人，對貝特耳祭壇呼喊的話，便從祭壇上伸出手來說﹕「抓住他! 」他向天主的人伸出來的手，即刻枯乾了，不能收回；
 列上:13.5   同時祭壇也破裂了，灰也從祭壇上傾撒了下來，正如天主的人奉上主的命令所提出的預兆。
 列上:13.6   君王於是對天主的人說﹕「請你為我祈禱，向上主你的天主求情，使我收回手來。」天主的人便向上主求情，君王的手即刻收回來了，恢復了原狀。
 列上:13.7   君王對天主的人說﹕「請你同我到家裏去，吃些點心，我要賜給你一個禮物。」
 列上:13.8   天主的人對君王說﹕「你就是將半個宮殿賜給我，我也不同你去，也不在這個地方吃飯喝水，
 列上:13.9   因為有上主的話吩咐我說﹕你不可吃飯，也不可喝水，也不可從你去的路上回來。」
 列上:13.10  於是，他另取道而行，沒有從他來貝特耳的路上回去。
 列上:13.11  [天主的人受欺騙]  有一個老先知住在貝特耳，他的兒子們前來，將天主的人當天在貝特耳所作的一切事，都告訴了他，把天主的人對君王所說的話，有都講給他們的父親聽。
 列上:13.12  父親便問他們說﹕「他走了那條路﹖」他的兒子們就把從猶大來的天主的人所走的路指給他。
 列上:13.13  老先知遂吩咐他的兒子們說﹕「快給我備好驢! 」他們即為他備好了驢，他就騎上，
 列上:13.14  去追趕天主的人，發現他正坐在橡樹下，就問他說﹕「你是從猶大來的天主的人嗎﹖」他答說﹕「是。」
 列上:13.15  老先知對他說﹕「請你同我到家裏去吃點飯罷! 」
 列上:13.16  天主的人答說﹕「我不能同你回去，也不能與你同行，更不能在者地方同你一起吃飯喝水，
 列上:13.17  因為有上主的話對我說﹕你在那裡也不可吃飯，也不可喝水，也不可從你去的路上回來。」
 列上:13.18  老先知對他說﹕「我也如同你一樣，是個先知，有一位天使曾奉上主的命對我說﹕你去領他跟你回到你家吃飯喝水罷! 」老先知原是欺騙他。
 列上:13.19  天主的人就跟老先知回去，在他家裏吃了飯，也喝了水。
 列上:13.20  正當他們二人坐席時，有上主的話傳於那領天主的人回來的先知，
 列上:13.21  他就對那從猶大來的天主的人喊叫說﹕「上主這樣說﹕因為你違背了上主的話，沒有遵守上主你的天主吩咐你的命令，竟然回來了，在上主吩﹖
 列上:13.22  ，你的屍體不得葬入你祖先的墳墓中。」
 列上:13.23  他吃喝完了以後，老先知就給他所帶回來的先知備了驢，
 列上:13.24  他就騎上去了；途中遇見了一隻獅子將他咬死，他的屍體橫臥在路上，驢站在屍體旁邊，那隻獅子也站在屍體旁邊。
 列上:13.25  有路過的人，看見屍體橫臥在路上，獅子站在屍體的旁邊，就到老先知所住的城中述說了這事。
 列上:13.26  那個從路上帶回天主的人的老先知聽了這事，就說﹕「這是天主的人，因為他違背了上主的命令，所以上主將他交於獅子，獅子撕裂了他，將他咬死，正如上主關於他所說的話。」
 列上:13.27  老先知既吩咐自己的兒子們說﹕「給我備好驢! 」他們將驢備好。
 列上:13.28  老先知去了，發現天主的人屍體橫臥在路上，驢和獅子站在屍體旁邊；獅子沒有吞掉屍體，也沒有撕裂驢。
 列上:13.29  老先知就抱起天主的人的屍體，放在驢上，馱回城中，為他舉挨治喪，
 列上:13.30  將他的屍體安葬在自己的墳墓裏；人哀悼他說﹕「哀哉，吾兄! 」
 列上:13.31  安葬它以後，老先知吩咐兒子們說﹕「我死了以後，你們要把我葬在安葬天主的人的墳墓裏，把我的遺骸安放在他的遺骸旁，
 列上:13.32  因為他奉上主的命對貝特耳的祭壇，和對撒瑪黎雅各城高丘上的一切神殿所喊出的話，必要應驗。」
 列上:13.33  [雅洛貝罕怙惡不悛]  這事以後，雅洛貝罕始終沒有離開他作惡的道路，仍繼續從平民中選派高丘的司祭；凡是願意的，他就祝聖他們當高丘的司祭。
 列上:13.34  雅洛貝罕家因此陷於罪惡，招致喪亡，由地上消滅。
    
 列上:14.1   [雅洛貝罕的兒子患病]  那時，雅洛貝罕的兒子阿彼雅患病，
 列上:14.2   雅洛貝罕對自己的妻子說：「請你起來改裝，教人認不出你是雅洛貝罕的妻子，往史羅去，在那裏有先知阿希雅，他曾預言過我要作這人民的君王。
 列上:14.3   你帶上十塊餅，一些餅乾和一瓶蜜去見他，他會告訴你孩子將來究竟如何。」
 列上:14.4   雅洛貝罕的妻子就這樣做了：起身去了史羅，來到阿希雅的家。阿希雅因年老，眼睛昏花，不能看清；
 列上:14.5   但上主卻預先對阿希雅說：「雅洛貝罕的妻子，要來問你有關她兒子的事，因為她兒子病了；你要如此這般地答覆她；她來時，是作另一婦人的打扮。」
 列上:14.6   [阿希雅預言孩子必死]  她一進門，阿希雅聽見她的腳步聲，就說：「雅洛貝罕的妻子，請進來! 你為什麼扮另一婦人﹖我正奉命要告訴你一個凶信。
 列上:14.7   你去告訴雅洛貝罕，上主以色列的天主這樣說：我從人民中提拔了你，立你作我人民以色列的領袖；
 列上:14.8   我從達味家奪過王國來交給你，而你卻不像我的僕人達味那樣遵守我的誡命，全心隨從我，只行我視為正義的事；
 列上:14.9   你反而作惡甚於你以前的任何人，且去為你自己製造別的神，鑄造偶像，惹我發怒，完全背棄了我。
 列上:14.10  因此，我要降災懲罰 雅洛貝罕家，消滅以色列所有屬於雅洛貝罕的男人，無論是自由的或是不自 由的，一概除掉；我要掃除雅洛貝罕的家，有如人清除糞土一樣。
 列上:14.11  凡屬 雅洛貝罕的人，死在城中的，必為狗吞食，死在田野間的，必為空中的飛鳥 啄食：因為上主說了。
 列上:14.12  現在，你快起身回家；當的腳踏進城門時，孩子就要死去。
 列上:14.13  全以色列人要哀悼他，埋葬他；雅洛貝罕家中，只有他得進入墳墓，因為雅洛貝罕家中，只有他行了一些中悅上主，以色列的天主的善事。
 列上:14.14  上主必為自己另選一位君王來統治以色列，那天他要消滅雅洛貝罕 家。現在，我還能說什麼﹖
 列上:14.15  上主必要打擊以色列，使他們搖動如同水中的蘆葦；並將以色列從上主賜給他們祖先的福地上拔除，使他們分散在大河之外，因為他們製造了阿舍辣惹上主發怒。
 列上:14.16  由於雅洛貝罕自己所犯的罪，和使他以色列所犯的罪，上主必要拋棄以色列。」
 列上:14.17  雅洛貝罕的妻子遂起身走了，到了提爾匝，一進家門，孩子就死了。
 列上:14.18  全以色列埋葬了他，並為他舉哀，正如上主藉著他的僕人阿希雅先知所說的話。
 列上:14.19  [雅洛貝罕逝世]  雅洛貝罕其餘的事蹟，有關他怎樣戰爭，怎樣作王，都記載在以色列列王 實錄上。
 列上:14.20  雅洛貝罕在位凡二十二年，然後與列祖同眠。他的兒子納達布 繼位為王。
 列上:14.21  [勒哈貝罕為猶大王]  撒羅滿的兒子勒哈貝罕在猶大為王，他登 極時，年四十一歲。他在耶路撒冷，即在上主從以色列各支派中選出歸他名下的城中，作王十七年；他的母親名叫納阿瑪，是阿孟人。
 列上:14.22  猶大人行了 上主視為惡的事；他們所犯的罪比他們祖先所犯的，更激怒上主，
 列上:14.23  因為 他們也在各地的高崗上，在各綠樹下，修築了丘壇、柱像和阿舍辣；
 列上:14.24  境內還有為神賣淫的男女，完全仿效了上主從以色列前所驅逐的異族，做了種種可憎惡的事。
 列上:14.25  [埃及王進攻猶大]  勒哈貝罕作王第五年，埃及王史沙克上來進攻耶路撒冷，
 列上:14.26  劫去上主殿內和王宮的寶物，全部帶走，連撒羅滿所製的一切金盾牌也都帶去。
 列上:14.27  勒哈貝罕只得製造銅盾牌來代替，交給防衛宮門的侍衛長保管；
 列上:14.28  每逢君王進入上主的殿時，侍衛便手持這些盾牌；事後，仍將盾牌送回侍衛室中。勒哈貝罕逝世
 列上:14.29  勒哈貝罕其餘的事蹟，他的一切作為，都記載在猶大列王十實錄上。
 列上:14.30  勒哈貝罕與雅洛貝罕之間不斷發生戰事。
 列上:14.31  勒哈貝罕與列祖同眠，與列祖同葬在達味城。他的母親名叫納阿瑪，是阿孟人；他的兒子阿彼雅繼位為王。
    
 列上:15.1   [阿彼雅為猶大王]  乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕王十八年，阿彼雅登極作猶大王，
 列上:15.2   在耶路撒冷作王三年；他母親名叫瑪阿加，是阿貝沙隆的外孫女。
 列上:15.3   阿彼雅作了他父親在他以前所行的一切邪惡；他的心對上主他的天主，不像他祖父達味的那樣誠實。
 列上:15.4   但是，上主他的天主，為了達味的緣故，仍使他在耶路撒冷，有一盞燈，立他的兒子接他的位，並保全耶路撒冷，
 列上:15.5   因為達味除了赫特人烏黎雅那件事以外，常行了上主視為正義的事，一生歲月從未違背上主所吩咐他的一切。
 列上:15.6   【勒哈貝罕與雅洛貝罕之間不斷發生戰事。】
 列上:15.7   阿彼雅其餘的事蹟，他的一切作為，都記載在猶大列王實錄上。阿彼雅與雅洛貝罕之間，常發生戰事。
 列上:15.8   阿彼雅與列祖同眠，葬在達味城；他的兒子阿撒繼位為王。
 列上:15.9   [阿撒為猶大王]  以色列王雅洛貝罕二十年，阿撒登極作猶大王，
 列上:15.10  在耶路撒冷作王四十一年；他的祖母名叫瑪阿加，是阿貝沙隆的外孫女。
 列上:15.11  阿撒行了上主視為正直的事，像他的祖父達味一樣。
 列上:15.12  他將為神賣淫的男女由國內除掉，徹去了他祖先所立的一切偶像，
 列上:15.13  並廢除了他祖母瑪阿加作太后的權位，因為她給阿舍辣立了可憎惡的柱像；阿撒把她所立的像砍倒，在克德龍谷焚毀。
 列上:15.14  只有丘壇沒有廢除；不過阿撒的心一生全屬上主。
 列上:15.15  阿撒將他父親所獻的，和他自己所獻的金銀和器皿，都送入上主的殿內。
 列上:15.16  阿撒與以色列王巴厄沙之間不斷發生戰爭。
 列上:15.17  以色列王巴厄沙上來進攻猶大，並在辣瑪修築工事，防止人民同猶大王阿撒來往。
 列上:15.18  那時，阿撒將上主殿內和王宮內寶庫中所剩餘的金銀取出，交給他的臣僕，打發他們去見住在大馬士革的阿蘭王，赫則雍的孫子，塔貝黎孟的兒子本哈達得說：「
 列上:15.19  我與你之間，我父親與你父親之間都立過約；現在我給你送來金銀作為禮品，請你廢除你與以色列王巴厄沙所立的約，使他遠離我! 」
 列上:15.20  本哈達得聽了阿撒王的話，即刻派自己的軍長去攻打以色列的城市，攻下了依雍、丹、阿貝耳貝瑪阿加、基乃勒特全境和納裴塔里全境。
 列上:15.21  巴厄沙一聽說這事，就停止在辣瑪的工事，回到了提爾匝。
 列上:15.22  於是阿撒王召集全猶大人民，一個也不例外，吩咐他們將巴厄沙修築辣瑪所用的石頭和木料運走；阿撒王用來修建本雅明的革巴和米茲帕。
 列上:15.23  阿撒其餘的事蹟，關於他的一切偉業和作為，並建造的城防，都記載在猶大列王實錄上。他年老時，患了足疾。
 列上:15.24  阿撒與列祖同眠，與列祖同葬在他祖父達味城內；他的兒子約沙法特繼位為王。
 列上:15.25  [納達布為以色列王]  猶大王阿撒二年，雅洛貝罕的兒子納達布登極作以色列王。他二年作以色列王，
 列上:15.26  行了上主視為惡的事，走了他父親的路，犯了他父親使以色列陷於罪惡的罪。
 列上:15.27  依撒加爾家族，阿希雅的兒子巴厄沙結黨背叛了他，在屬於培肋舍特人的基貝通將他殺死，那時納達布和全以色列人正在圍攻基貝通。
 列上:15.28  猶大王阿撒三年，巴厄沙殺了納達布，篡了他的王位。
 列上:15.29  他登極後，立即殺了亞洛貝罕全家；凡屬於雅洛貝罕家中的人，沒有留下一個，都殺絕了：這正應了上主藉他僕人使羅人阿希雅所說的話。
 列上:15.30  這是因為亞洛貝罕自己犯的罪和他使以色列犯的罪，激怒了上主，以色列的天主。
 列上:15.31  納達布其餘的事蹟，他的一切作為，都記載在以色列列王實錄上。
 列上:15.32  【阿撒與以色列王巴厄沙之間常發生戰事。】
 列上:15.33  [巴厄沙為以色列王]  猶大王阿撒三年，阿希雅的兒子巴厄沙在提爾匝登極，作全以色列王，在位凡二十四年。
 列上:15.34  他行了上主視為惡的事，走了雅洛貝罕所走的路，犯了使以色列陷於罪惡的事。
    
 列上:16.1   那時，有上主的話傳於哈納尼的兒子耶胡，斥責巴厄沙說：
 列上:16.2   「我由塵埃中提拔了你，立你做我民以色列的領袖，你卻走了雅洛貝罕的路，使我民以色列犯罪，激怒我；
 列上:16.3   我現在，我要掃除巴厄沙和他的家族，使他的家如同乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕的一家一樣：
 列上:16.4   凡屬巴厄沙家的人，死在城中的，必為狗吞食，死在田野間的，必為空中的飛鳥啄食。」
 列上:16.5   巴厄沙其餘的事蹟，他所行的事和他的功績，都記載在以色列列王實錄上。
 列上:16.6   巴厄沙與列祖同眠，葬在提爾匝；他的兒子厄拉繼位為王。
 列上:16.7   上主藉哈納尼的兒子，先知耶胡傳話斥責巴厄沙和他的家族，是因為他行了許多上主眼中視為惡的事，以自己的作為激怒了上主，如同雅洛貝罕的家一樣；又因為他殺了雅洛貝罕全家。
 列上:16.8   [厄拉為以色列王]  猷大王阿撒二十六年，巴厄沙的兒子厄拉在提爾匝登極作以色列王，在位凡二年。
 列上:16.9   他的臣僕，即率領他半數戰車的隊長，齊默黎結黨背叛了他。當他在提爾匝，他的家在阿爾匝家喝醉時，
 列上:16.10  齊默黎衝入，擊殺了他，篡奪了他的王位，時在猶大王阿撒二十七年。
 列上:16.11  齊默黎一登極，立刻屠殺了巴厄沙全家，沒有給他留下一個男子，連他的親屬朋友都殺了。
 列上:16.12  齊默黎這樣毀滅了巴厄沙全家，應驗了上主藉先知耶胡斥責巴厄沙所說的話。
 列上:16.13  這是因為巴厄沙和他的兒子厄拉所犯的一切罪，即引以色列陷於罪惡，因他們製造了虛無偶像，激怒了上主，以色列的天主。
 列上:16.14  厄拉其餘的事蹟，他的一切作為，都記載在以色列列王實錄上。
 列上:16.15  [齊默黎為以色列王]  猶大王阿撒二十七年，齊默黎王提爾匝作王僅七天。當時人民正在圍攻培肋舍特人的基貝通，
 列上:16.16  消息傳到營中說：齊默黎已經叛變，擊殺了君王，全以色列人當天即在營中，選立了軍長敖默黎作以色列王。
 列上:16.17  敖默黎和與他在一起的全以色列人，從基貝通上去圍攻提爾匝。
 列上:16.18  齊默黎一見城已失陷，即走進王宮的城堡，縱火焚燒王宮，自焚而死。
 列上:16.19  這是因為他所犯的罪惡，行了上主視為惡的事，走了雅洛貝罕的路，並以自己所犯的罪，使以色列陷於罪惡。
 列上:16.20  齊默黎其餘的事蹟，暗殺叛變的事，都記載在以色列列王實錄。
 列上:16.21  那時，以色列人民分裂為二：一半跟隨基納特的兒子提貝尼，要立他為王；一半跟隨敖默黎。
 列上:16.22  跟隨敖默黎的人勝過了跟隨基納特的兒子提貝尼的人；提貝尼死後，敖默黎便作了王。
 列上:16.23  [敖默黎為以色列王]  猶大王阿撒三十一年，敖默黎登極作以色列王，在位凡十二年，其中六年在提爾匝。
 列上:16.24  敖默黎用兩「塔冷通」銀子，由舍默爾手中買下了芍默龍山。他修建了這座山，依照山的原主舍默爾的名字，給他所建築的城起名叫「撒瑪黎雅。」
 列上:16.25  敖默黎行了上主視為惡的事，甚至比他以前的人更為邪惡。
 列上:16.26  事事仿效乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕所走的路，犯了更使以色列陷於罪惡的罪，又敬拜邪神偶像，激怒上主，以色列的天主。
 列上:16.27  敖默黎其餘的事蹟，他的作為和功蹟，都記載在以色列列王實錄上。
 列上:16.28  敖默黎與列祖同眠，葬在撒瑪黎雅；他的兒子阿哈布繼位為王。
 列上:16.29  [阿哈布為以色列王]  猶大王阿撒三十八年，敖默黎的兒子阿哈布登極作以色列王。敖默黎的兒子阿哈布在撒瑪黎雅作以色列王，凡二十二年。
 列上:16.30  敖默黎的兒子阿哈布行了上主視為惡的事，甚於他以前的人。
 列上:16.31  他走了乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕犯罪的路，尚以為是小事，又娶了漆冬王厄特巴耳的女兒依則貝耳為妻，親自去服事敬拜巴耳，
 列上:16.32  在撒瑪黎雅為巴耳建築了一座廟宇，廟內為巴耳設立了一座祭壇。
 列上:16.33  阿哈布又立了阿舍辣；阿哈布行事激怒上主，以色列的天主，尤甚於他以前的以色列王。
 列上:16.34  他在位的時候，貝特耳人希耳重建了耶里哥；奠基的時候，死了長子阿彼蘭；安門的時候，死了幼子色古布：這正應驗了上主藉農的兒子若蘇厄所說的話。
    
 列上:17.1   [厄里亞先知預言旱災]  基肋阿得提市貝出身的提市貝人厄里亞對阿哈布說：「我指著我所服侍的永生上主、以色列的天主起誓：這幾年如果沒有我的命令，天決不降露或落雨! 」
 列上:17.2   有上主的話傳於厄里亞說：
 列上:17.3   「你離開這裏，轉向東方，隱居在約但河東的革黎特校河旁。
 列上:17.4   你要喝那小河裏的水，我已經吩咐烏鴉在那裏供給你食物。」
 列上:17.5   厄里亞就依照上主的話去做，去住在約但河東的革黎特小河旁。
 列上:17.6   烏鴉早晨給他送餅和肉來，晚上也給他送餅和肉來；渴了，就喝那小河裏的水。
 列上:17.7   不幾天以後，那地方沒有落雨，小河也乾涸了。
 列上:17.8   有上主的話傳於厄里亞說：
 列上:17.9   「你起身往漆冬匝爾法特去，住在那裏；我已吩咐那裏的一個寡婦供養你。」
 列上:17.10  他就起身往匝爾法特去了，來到城門時，看見一個寡婦在那裏拾木柴。厄里亞喚她說：「請你用器皿取點水來給我喝! 」
 列上:17.11  她正要去取水的時候，厄里亞又叫住她說：「請你也順便給我拿點餅來! 」
 列上:17.12  那寡婦說：「我指著永生上主你的天主起誓：我沒有餅，缸裏只有一把麵，罐裏還有一點油。你看，我正要拾兩根木柴，回去為我和我的兒子做點東西，吃了等死。」
 列上:17.13  厄里亞對她說：「你不用害怕，僅管照你所說的去做；只是先為我做一個小餅，給我拿來! 然後，再為你和你的兒子做，
 列上:17.14  因為上主以色列的天主這樣說：直到上主使雨落在在地上的那一天，缸裏的麵，決不會用完；罐裏的油，也決不會缺少。」
 列上:17.15  那個寡婦就照了厄里亞的話去做了；她和厄里亞並她的孩子吃了許多日子；
 列上:17.16  缸裏的麵，果然沒有用完，罐裏的油，也沒有減少，正如上主藉著厄里亞所說的話。
 列上:17.17  [復活寡婦的兒子]   這事以後，那婦人，即那家的主母的兒子病了，病得很重，就斷了氣。
 列上:17.18  婦人於是對厄里亞說：「天主的人，我與你有什麼關係﹖你到我這裏來，竟叫上主記起我的罪惡，殺死了我的兒子! 」
 列上:17.19  厄里亞對婦人說：「把你的兒子交給我! 」於是厄里亞從她懷裏接過孩子來，抱到他住的樓上，放在自己的床上，
 列上:17.20  呼求上主說：「上主，我的天主! 我寄居在這寡婦家中，難道你也忍心加害於她，殺死她的兒子嗎﹖」
 列上:17.21  厄里亞三次伏在孩子身上，呼求上主說：「上主，我的天主，求你使這孩子的靈魂再回到他身上! 」
 列上:17.22  上主聽了厄里亞的呼求，孩子的靈魂又回到他身上，孩子就又活了。
 列上:17.23  厄里亞將孩子曾樓上抱下來，到房間內，把孩子交給他的母親說：「看，你兒子活了! 」
 列上:17.24  那婦人對厄里亞說：「現在我知道你是天主的人，上主藉著你的口所說的話，確是真理。」
    
 列上:18.1   [預告旱災結束]  過了許多時日，到了第三年，有上主的話傳於厄里亞說：「你去見阿哈布，我要在這地上降雨。」
 列上:18.2   厄里亞就去見阿哈布；那時，撒瑪黎雅正遭受嚴重的饑荒。
 列上:18.3   阿哈布將自己的家宰敖巴狄雅召來，─敖巴狄雅原是一位很敬畏上主的人。
 列上:18.4   當依則貝耳殺害上主的先知時，他曾收留一百個先知，每五十人分藏在一個洞裏，私下供給他們飲食。─
 列上:18.5   阿哈布對敖巴狄雅說：「我們要走遍這地，到所有的水泉和小河那裏去，或許能找到一些青草，使騾馬生存，免得喪失許多牲畜。」
 列上:18.6   他們於是分地巡行；阿哈布獨自走了一條路，敖巴狄雅也獨自走了另一條路。
 列上:18.7   [敖巴狄雅遇厄里亞]  敖巴狄雅走路時，厄里亞恰巧遇見了他；敖巴狄雅認得他，便俯伏在地說：「你不就是我主厄里亞嗎﹖」
 列上:18.8   厄里亞回答說：「是，你去告訴你的主人說：厄里亞在這裏。」
 列上:18.9   敖巴狄雅說：「我犯了什麼罪﹖你竟要將你的僕人交於阿哈布手中，讓他殺死我﹖
 列上:18.10  我指著永生的上主，你的天主起誓：沒有一個民族，沒有一個國家，我的主上不派人去尋找你的；如果人們說：厄里亞不在我們這裏；他一定要叫那個國家和那個民族起誓說：實在他們沒有找到你。
 列上:18.11  現在你說：你去告訴你的主人說：厄里亞在這裏。
 列上:18.12  我一離開你，上主的神把你帶到我所不知道的地方去；我若去告訴阿哈布，而他找不到你，啟不要殺死我﹖你的僕人自幼也是個敬畏上主得人啊!
 列上:18.13  難道我主沒有聽說過：當依則耳殘殺上主的先知時，我所作的事﹖我曾隱藏一百個上主的先知，每五十人分藏在一個洞裏，由我供給他們飲食。
 列上:18.14  現在你說：你去告訴你的主人，厄里亞在這裏，他一定要殺我! 」
 列上:18.15  厄里亞說：「我指著我所服侍的萬軍的永生上主起誓：今天我一定要叫阿哈布看見我。」
 列上:18.16  [阿哈布和厄里亞見面]  敖巴狄雅於是前去會見阿哈布，告訴他這消息，阿哈布就去迎接厄里亞。
 列上:18.17  阿哈布一見厄里亞，就對他說：「叫以色列遭難的人，不就是你嗎﹖」
 列上:18.18  厄里亞答說：「不是我叫以色列遭難，而是你和你的父家，因為你們拋棄了上主的誡命，歸順了巴耳邪神。
 列上:18.19  現在，你派人去召集全以色列人，同受依則貝耳供養的那四百五十個巴耳的先知，【及那四百個阿舍辣的先知，】上加爾默耳山，到我跟前來。」
 列上:18.20  阿哈布便派人召集了所有的以色列子民，聚集了那些先知，一起到了加爾默耳山上。
 列上:18.21  [厄里亞與假先知比試]  厄里亞走向全體民眾面前說：「你們搖擺不定，模稜兩可，要到幾時呢﹖如果上主是天主，你們就應該隨從上主；如果巴耳是天主，就該隨從巴耳。」人民一句話也不回答。
 列上:18.22  厄里亞對人民說：「上主的先知指剩下我一個人了，巴耳的先知卻有四百五十人。
 列上:18.23  請給我們牽兩隻公牛犢來；他們可任選一隻，剖分成塊，放在木柴上，不要點火；我也照樣預備另一隻，放在木柴上，也不點火。
 列上:18.24  你們呼求你們神的名字，我也呼求上主的名字：那降火顯示應允的神，就是真神。」民眾回答說：「你這話說得很好! 」
 列上:18.25  厄里亞對巴耳的先知們說：「因為你們人數眾多，你們應該先挑選一隻牛犢，準備好，然後呼求你們神的名字，只是不要點火。」
 列上:18.26  他們即將人給他們的公牛犢牽來，預備好，從早晨直到中午呼求巴耳的名字說：「巴耳，應允我們罷! 」但是沒有聲音，也沒有答應的。他們就在自己所築的祭壇旁，跪下又起來，跳個不停。
 列上:18.27  到了中午，厄里亞嘲弄他們說：「你們再高聲喊叫，因為他是神，或者他正在沉思冥想，或者它暫時隱退，或者正在外旅行，或者他正在睡覺，必須把他叫醒。」
 列上:18.28  他們遂更高聲喊叫，照他們的習慣，用刀用槍割傷自己，直到全身流出血來。
 列上:18.29  過了中午，他們仍繼續狂喊亂叫，直到晚祭的時候，但仍然沒有聲音，也沒有答應的，也沒有理會。
 列上:18.30  厄里亞對全你人民說：「你們到我這裏來。」全體人民便都到他那裏去；厄里亞立即重修了已經坍塌了的上主的祭壇；
 列上:18.31  依照雅各伯子孫的支派數目，取了十二塊石頭，─這雅各伯就是上主曾對他說過：「你的名字要叫以色列。」─
 列上:18.32  用這些石頭，為上主的名築成一座祭壇，在祭壇四周作了一個水溝，可容二「色阿」穀種。
 列上:18.33  把木柴放好，將牛犢剖分成塊，放在木柴上，
 列上:18.34  然後吩咐說：「盛滿四桶水，倒在全燔祭和木柴上! 」他們就這樣做了。他又吩咐說：「再倒一次! 」他們就再倒了一次；他再吩咐說：「倒第三次! 」他們就倒了第三次；
 列上:18.35  水沿祭壇四周奔流，溝裏滿了水。
 列上:18.36  到了要奉獻晚祭的時候，厄里亞先知走近前來說：「上主，亞巴郎、依撒格和以色列的天主，求你今天使人知道：你是以色列的天主，我是你的僕人，是奉你的命作這一切事。
 列上:18.37  上主，求你應允我，應允我! 使這人民知道你上主，是真天主，是你叫他們心回意轉。」
 列上:18.38  於是上主的火降下，焚盡了全燔祭、柴木、石頭和塵土，也燒乾了溝中的水。
 列上:18.39  全體人民見了，都俯伏在地說：「雅威是天主，雅威是天主! 」
 列上:18.40  厄里亞對民眾說：「你們捉住巴耳的先知，不要讓他們走脫一個! 」民眾立即捉住他們。厄里亞帶他們下到克雄小河旁，在那裏將他們全部殺掉。
 列上:18.41  [天降大雨]  厄里亞對阿哈布說：「你上去吃喝罷! 因為已聽到大雨的怒號聲。」
 列上:18.42  阿哈布就上去吃喝，厄里亞卻上了加爾默耳山頂，跪伏在地，將臉放在兩膝之間。
 列上:18.43  以後，對自己的僕人說：「你上去，朝海那邊觀看! 」僕人就上去觀看，說：「什麼也沒有。」厄里亞說：「你來回觀看七次! 」他就去了七次。
 列上:18.44  第七次僕人說：「看，有一片雲彩，小得像手掌那麼大，從海上升起來了。」厄里亞說：「你上去告訴阿哈布說：快套車下去，免得被雨阻止! 」
 列上:18.45  轉瞬之間，天空因風雲變為昏黑，落下大雨；阿哈布上車去了依次勒耳。
 列上:18.46  上主的手臨於厄里亞身上，他就束上腰，跑在阿哈布前頭，直到依次勒耳的城門口。
    
 列上:19.1   [厄里亞退往曷勒布山]  阿哈布將厄里亞所作的一切，以及他如何刀 斬眾先知的事，全告訴了依則貝耳。
 列上:19.2   依則貝耳就派使者去對厄里亞說：「明天這個時候，如果我不使你的性命如同那些先知一樣，願眾神明嚴厲，且 加倍嚴厲地懲罰我! 」
 列上:19.3   厄里亞害了怕，遂起身逃命，到了猶大境內的貝爾舍巴，叫他的僕人留在那裏，
 列上:19.4   自己卻進入曠野，走了一天的路，來到一棵 杜松樹下，坐下來求死說：「上主啊! 現在已經夠了! 收去我的性命罷! 因 為我並不如我的祖先好。」
 列上:19.5   以後，就躺在那棵杜松樹下，睡著了；忽然，有為天使拍醒他，對他說：「起來，吃罷! 」
 列上:19.6   他看了看，見頭旁有一塊用炭火烤熟的餅和一罐水；他吃了喝了，又躺下睡了。
 列上:19.7   上主的使者第二次又來拍醒他說：「起來，吃罷! 因為你還有一段很遠的路。」
 列上:19.8   他就起來，吃 了喝了，賴那食物的力量，走了四十天四十夜，一直到了天主的山曷勒布。
 列上:19.9   [天主顯現給厄里亞]  他來到那裏，進了一個山洞，在那裏過夜；有上主的話傳於他說：「厄里亞，你在這裏做什麼﹖」
 列上:19.10  厄里亞答說：「我為上主萬軍的天主憂心如焚，因為以色列子民背棄了你的盟約，毀壞了你的祭壇，刀斬了你的先知，只剩下了我一個，他們還要奪取我的性命! 」
 列上:19.11  上主吩咐他說：「你出來，站在山上，立在上主前面。」那時，上主正從那裏經過，在上主面前，暴風大作，裂山碎石，但是，上主卻不在風暴中；風以後有地震，但是上主亦不在地震中；
 列上:19.12  地震以後有烈火，但是上主仍不在火中；烈火以後，有輕微細弱的風聲。
 列上:19.13  厄里亞一聽見這聲音，即用外衣蒙住臉出來，站在洞口。遂有聲音對他說：「厄里亞，你在這裏做什麼﹖」
 列上:19.14  他答說：「我為上主萬軍的天主憂心如焚，因為以色列子民背棄了你的盟約，毀壞了你的祭壇，刀斬了你的先知，只剩下了我一個，他們還要奪取我的性命! 」
 列上:19.15  [厄里亞奉命敷油]  上主對厄里亞說：「你回去，仍取道曠野，往大馬士革去，到了那裏，給哈匝耳敷油，立他為阿蘭王。
 列上:19.16  去給尼默史的 孫子耶胡敷油，立他為以色列王；再去給阿耳貝默曷拉人沙法特的兒子厄里叟敷油，立他接替你為先知；
 列上:19.17  將來躲過哈匝耳的刀的，必為耶胡所殺；躲過耶胡的刀的，必為厄里叟所殺。
 列上:19.18  然而，在以色列我要為我自己留下七千人；他們全是從未向巴耳屈過膝，未與巴耳親過嘴的人。」
 列上:19.19  [厄里叟蒙召]  厄里亞於是從那裏起身，去找沙法特的兒子厄里叟。他正在耕田，在他面前有十二對牛，他自己趕著地十二對；厄里亞走過他身邊，將自己的外衣披在他身上。
 列上:19.20  厄里叟﹖ 披在的父母吻別，然後來跟隨你。」厄里亞對他說：「你去罷! 要再回來! 因為我應為你作的，已經作了。」
 列上:19.21  厄里叟離開了厄里亞，回來牽出一對牛宰殺了，用駕馭牛的用具煮熟，分給眾人吃；然後他便起身跟隨厄里亞，作了他的侍從。
    
 列上:20.1   [本哈達得進攻阿哈布]  阿蘭王本哈達得召集了自己所有的軍隊，帶同三十二個王子，乘坐戰馬戰車，前去圍攻撒瑪黎雅。
 列上:20.2   他先派使者進城，來見以色列王阿哈布，
 列上:20.3   對他說：「本哈達得這樣說：你的金銀全應歸我，只是你的妻子兒女，仍歸於你。」
 列上:20.4   以色列王回答說：「我主大王，就依照你的話，我和我的一切都歸於你。」
 列上:20.5   不料，使者們又回答說：「本哈達得這樣說：我已派人通知你：將你的金銀和你的妻子兒女全交給我。
 列上:20.6   須知，明天這時，我必派我的僕人到你這裏來，搜索你和你僕人的房屋，凡他們看中的東西，都要隨手拿去。」
 列上:20.7   以色列王將國內所有長老召來，說：「你們想想看：這人要求是多麼無理! 他先派人要我的金銀，我沒有拒絕他；現在竟又派人來我這裏，要我的妻子兒女。」
 列上:20.8   眾長老和全體人民對他說：「你不要聽從，也不要應允! 」
 列上:20.9   因此，他對本哈達得的使者說：「你們回去告訴我主大王說：你第一次派人向你僕人所要求的，我必全照辦；至於這另一要求，我卻不能照辦。」使者遂回去，向本哈達得回話。
 列上:20.10  本哈達得於是派人對阿哈布說：「如果撒瑪黎雅的塵土，足夠跟隨我的人每人抓一把，願眾神明嚴厲，且加倍嚴厲地懲罰我! 」
 列上:20.11  以色列王回答說：「有句俗話說：佩帶武器的人，不可像卸去了武器的人那樣自負。」
 列上:20.12  本哈達得和眾王正在帳內飲酒，一聽見這話，就對他的臣僕說：「列隊進攻! 」他們即刻列隊攻城。
 列上:20.13  [阿哈布賴主獲勝]  這時，忽然有一個先知，來見以色列王阿哈布說：「上主這樣說：你不是看見這支強大的軍隊嗎﹖今天，我要將他們交在你手中，叫你知道我是上主。」
 列上:20.14  阿哈布問說：「藉著誰﹖」先知回答說：「上主這樣說：藉著眾省長的少年軍人。」阿哈布又問說：「誰指揮作戰﹖」先知回答說：「你自己。」
 列上:20.15  於是阿哈布檢閱了眾省長的少年人，計有二百三十二人；然後又檢閱了所有軍人，即全體以色列子民，共七千人。
 列上:20.16  到了中午，他們出發，那時，本哈達得正和協助他的三十二個王子在帳中飲酒。
 列上:20.17  眾省長的少年軍人首先出發，本哈達得派出的探子回報他說：「有人從撒瑪黎雅出來了。」
 列上:20.18  他遂吩咐說：「如果他們前來，是為求和，將他們活活捉住；如果他們前來，是為交戰，也將他們活活捉住。」
 列上:20.19  眾省長的少年軍人和跟隨他們的軍隊衝出城來，
 列上:20.20  個個見人便殺，阿蘭人逃走，以色列人在後面乘勝追趕；阿蘭王本哈達得急速上馬與騎兵一起逃走。
 列上:20.21  那時，以色列王出來，擄掠了許多戰馬和戰車，使阿蘭人大敗。
 列上:20.22  那為先知前來對以色列王說：「你要發奮圖強，留心認清你當作的事，因為明年春季，阿蘭王必要再來攻擊你。」
 列上:20.23  [阿蘭王整軍再戰]  阿蘭王的臣僕對阿蘭王說：「以色列的神是山神，所以他們必我們強；但如果我們在平原上與他們交戰，我們必會得勝。
 列上:20.24  這是大王應該作的事：廢除眾王子各人的職位，另立軍長代替，
 列上:20.25  召募新軍，補充所損失的軍隊，照數補充戰馬戰車；然後在平原上與他們會戰，我們定能戰勝他們。」阿蘭王聽從了他們的建議，就這樣進行。
 列上:20.26  [本哈達得在戰再敗]  過年以後，本哈達得檢閱了阿蘭人上到阿費克，進攻以色列。
 列上:20.27  以色列子民也動員起來，攜帶軍糧，出來迎戰；以色列子民在他們對面紮營，好像兩群山羊；至於阿蘭人卻遍地皆是。
 列上:20.28  天主的人又前來對以色列王說：「上主這樣說：既然阿蘭人說：上主是山神而不是平原神，所以我必將這支龐大的軍隊交在你手中，叫你們知道我是上主。」
 列上:20.29  以色列人和阿蘭人相對紮營七天；第七天上，就交戰了；一天之內以色列子民殺死了十萬阿蘭步兵，
 列上:20.30  其餘的人都逃入阿費克城內，城牆倒塌，壓死了殘存的兩萬七千人。本哈達得也逃入城內，藏在極嚴密的暗室內。本哈達得投降
 列上:20.31  本哈達得的臣僕對本哈達得說：「看，我們聽說以色列家的君王，都是仁慈的君王，請你讓我們腰裏束上麻布，頭上繫上繩索，去見以色列王，或者他會保全你的性命。」
 列上:20.32  於是他們腰裏束上麻布，頭上繫上繩索，去見以色列王說：「你的僕人本哈達得說：求你保全我的性命! 」阿哈布問說：「他還活著麼﹖他是我的兄弟。」
 列上:20.33  這些人認為這話是個吉兆，急忙抓住他的話說：「本哈達得確是陛下的兄弟。」阿哈布說：「你們去領他來! 」本哈達得便出來參見君王；阿哈布請他上了自己的車。
 列上:20.34  本哈達得對君王說：「我父親從你父親手中搶去的城市，我都要歸還給你；並且你可在大馬士革設立市場，如同我父親在撒瑪黎雅所設立的一樣。」阿哈布說：「我就根據這條約放你走。」這樣，君王與他訂立了條約，放他走了。
 列上:20.35  [阿哈布失策受責]  那時，有個先知的弟子奉上主的命，對自己的同伴說：「請你打我! 」那人卻拒絕打他。
 列上:20.36  他就對那人說：「既然你不聽上主的命，看，你一離開我，就有一個獅子把你咬死。」那人一離開他，果然路上遇見一隻獅子，把他咬死了。
 列上:20.37  以後，先知的弟子有遇見一個人，對他說：「請你打我! 」那人就動手打他，將他打傷了。
 列上:20.38  先知便站在路旁，用頭巾遮住自己的眼睛，等候君王。
 列上:20.39  君王從那裏經過時，他便對君王呼喊說：「你的僕人出來交戰，忽有一個人轉來，給我帶來一個人說：你要看守這個人，倘若失蹤了，定要你替他償命，或賠償一「塔冷通」銀子。
 列上:20.40  你的僕人正在東忙西亂時，那人不見了。」以色列王對他說：「這就是你的定案，你已經自下判決。」
 列上:20.41  他於是急忙拉下他遮眼的頭巾，以色列王纔認出他原是一位先知。
 列上:20.42  先知對君王說：「上主這樣說：你既然親手放走了我所要消滅的人，所以你要替他償命，你的人民必意抵償他的人民。」
 列上:20.43  以色列王悶悶不樂地回了撒瑪黎雅，進了自己的宮殿。
    
 列上:21.1   [葡萄園的風波]  這事以後，依次勒耳人納波特在依次勒耳，靠近撒瑪黎雅王阿哈布的宮殿，有一個葡萄園。
 列上:21.2   阿哈布對納波特說：「請將你的葡萄園讓給我，我可以用作菜園，因為離我的宮殿很近；我願拿一個更好的葡萄園來與你交換；或者，如果你認為好，我也可以照葡萄園的價值給你錢。」
 列上:21.3   納波特回答阿哈布說：「上主決不許我將我祖先的產業讓給你! 」
 列上:21.4   阿哈布由於依次勒耳人納波特對他所說：「我決不將我祖先的產業讓給你」的話，便悶悶不樂地回到宮中，躺在床上，轉過臉去，不肯吃飯。
 列上:21.5   他的妻子依則貝耳來見他，問他說：「你為什麼心裏這樣憂悶，連飯都不肯吃﹖」
 列上:21.6   阿哈布回答說：「因為我對依次勒耳人納波特說：請將你的葡萄園按現價賣給我，或者如果你願意，我可以拿另一個葡萄園來與你交換；他卻回答說：我決不將我的葡萄園讓給你。」
 列上:21.7   他的妻室依則貝耳對他說：「你真會統治以色列! 只管起來吃飯，心情愉快，我必將依次勒耳人納波特的葡萄園交給你。」
 列上:21.8   依則貝耳便以阿哈布的名義寫了一封信，蓋上君王的印章，送給與納波特同住一城的長老和官紳，
 列上:21.9   信上寫道：「請你們宣布禁食，叫納波特坐上民眾的首位，
 列上:21.10  然後再叫兩個流氓坐在他的對面，作證控告他說：納波特辱罵了天主和君王，你們應將他拉出城外，用石頭砸死。」
 列上:21.11  那些與納波特同住在一城的長老和官紳，便照依則貝耳吩咐他們的，照她在送給他們的信上所寫的去行：
 列上:21.12  宣布禁食，叫納波特坐上民眾的首位，
 列上:21.13  兩個流氓前來坐在他的對面，當眾作證控告他說：「納波特辱罵了天主和君王。」眾人便將他拉出城外，用石頭砸死了。
 列上:21.14  然後派人告訴依則貝耳說：「納波特已用石頭砸死了。」
 列上:21.15  依則貝耳聽說納波特已用石頭砸死了，就對阿哈布說：「你起來，去佔領依次勒耳人納波特，先前不肯照現價賣給你的葡萄園，因為納波特已經不在了，已經死了。」
 列上:21.16  阿哈布一聽說納波特死了，就起身下到依次勒耳人納波特的葡萄園，霸佔了那葡萄園。
 列上:21.17  [厄里亞預言天主的懲罰]  那時，有上主的話傳於提市貝人厄里亞說：
 列上:21.18  「你起來，下去會晤住在撒瑪黎雅的以色列王阿哈布；看，他現在正在納波特的葡萄園內，他下到那裏去霸佔了那葡萄園。
 列上:21.19  你要對他說：上主這樣說：你殺了人，還要霸佔他的產業嗎﹖繼而對他說：上主這樣說：狗在什麼地方，舔了納波特的血，也要在什麼地方舔你的血。」
 列上:21.20  阿哈布對厄里亞說：「我的對頭，你又找到了我的錯嗎﹖」厄里亞答說：「是，我找到了你的錯，因為你出賣了你自己，去行上主視為惡的事。
 列上:21.21  我必要在你身上降災，消滅你的宗族；以色列所有屬於阿哈布的男子無論是自由的或不自由的，一概滅絕。
 列上:21.22  我要使你的家像乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕的家，又像阿希雅的兒子巴厄沙的家，因為你惹我發怒，使以色列陷於罪惡。
 列上:21.23  至於依則貝耳，上主也預言說：狗要在依則貝耳的田間，吞食依則貝耳。
 列上:21.24  凡屬阿哈布的人，死在城中的，要為狗吞食，死在田間的，要為空中的飛鳥啄食。」
 列上:21.25  實在，從來沒有人像阿哈布一樣，受他的妻子依則貝耳的引誘，這樣出賣自己，行上主視為惡的事。
 列上:21.26  他行了最可憎惡的事，歸依了邪神偶像，全像上主從以色列子民前，趕走了阿摩黎人所行的一樣。
 列上:21.27  [阿哈布懺悔免罰]  阿哈布一聽這些話，就撕破自己的衣服，身穿麻衣，禁食，穿著麻衣睡覺，低頭緩步行走。
 列上:21.28  於是有上主的話傳於提市貝人厄里亞說：「
 列上:21.29  「阿哈布在我面前這樣自卑自賤，你看見了沒有﹖他既然在我面前自卑自賤，在他有生之日，我不降此災禍；但是，到他兒子的日子，我要使這災禍臨於他家。」
    
 列上:22.1   [南北兩國戰阿蘭]  阿蘭與以色列之間連續三年沒有戰爭。
 列上:22.2   第三年上，猶大王約沙法特下去見以色列王。
 列上:22.3   以色列王對自己的臣僕說：「你們知道辣摩特基肋阿得原屬於我們，而我們一直沒有設法從阿蘭王的手中奪回來。」
 列上:22.4   然後對約沙法特說：「你願意同我一起去攻取辣摩特基肋阿得嗎﹖」約沙法特回答以色列王說：「你怎樣，我也怎樣；我的人民就如同是你的人民，我的馬就如同是你的馬。」
 列上:22.5   [假先知預言戰勝]  以後，約沙法特對以色列王說：「請你先求問上主說什麼﹖」
 列上:22.6   以色列王於是召集了眾先知，人數約有四百，問他們說：「我上去進攻辣摩特基肋阿得，還是不去呢﹖」他們回答說：「上去，上主必將那地交於大王手中。」
 列上:22.7   但是，約沙法特說：「這裏就沒有一位上主的先知，我們可託他求問嗎﹖」
 列上:22.8   以色列王回答約沙法特說：「還有一個我們可以託他求問上主；不過我憎恨他，因為他對我說預言，總不說吉祥話，只說兇言；這人即是依默拉的兒子米加雅。」約沙法特對他說：「請大王別這樣說! 」
 列上:22.9   以色列王於是召一個宦官來，吩咐他說：「快去將依默拉的兒子米加雅召來! 」
 列上:22.10  當時以色列王和猶大王在撒瑪黎雅城門前的廣場上，各穿朝服，坐在寶座上；所有的先知在他們面前說預言。
 列上:22.11  革納阿納的兒子漆德克雅帶來了些自製的鐵角說：「上主這樣說：你要用這些鐵角殺盡阿蘭人。」
 列上:22.12  所有的先知也同樣預言說：「你上辣摩特基肋阿得去，必然順利，上主必將那地交於大王手中! 」
 列上:22.13  [米加雅預言戰敗]  那去召米加雅的使者對米加雅說：「看，先知們都一口同聲對君王說吉祥話，希望你說話，也如同他們中的一個一樣，也說吉祥話。」
 列上:22.14  米加雅回答說：「我指著永生的上主起誓：上主吩咐我什麼，我就說什麼! 」
 列上:22.15  米加雅來到君王那裏，君王問他說：「米加雅，我們應該上去進攻辣摩特基肋阿得，還是不去呢﹖」他回答說：「上去，必然順利! 上主必將那地交在大王手中! 」
 列上:22.16  君王對他說：「我應該多少次叫你宣誓，你纔奉上主的名對我說實話呢﹖」
 列上:22.17  米加雅答說：「我看見全以色列人散在山上，好像沒有牧人的羊群。上主說：這些人既然沒有主人，就讓他們各自平安回家罷! 」
 列上:22.18  以色列王對約沙法特說：「我不是告訴過你：他對我說預言總不說吉祥話，只說凶話﹖」
 列上:22.19  米加亞答說：「為此，你且靜聽上主的話：我見上主坐在寶座上，天上的萬軍侍立在他左右。
 列上:22.20  上主問說：有誰能去唆使阿哈布，叫他上去進攻辣摩特基肋阿得，而死在那裏呢﹖那時有的說這樣，有的說那樣。
 列上:22.21  以後，有一個神出來，立在上主面前說：我能唆使他。上主問他說：用什麼方法﹖
 列上:22.22  那神回答說：我去，在他所有的先知口中做虛言的神。上主答說：你必能唆使他，也必會成功，你去照辦罷!
 列上:22.23  現在上主將虛言的神，放入你這些先知口中，上主已注定你必遭殃。」
 列上:22.24  那時，革納阿納的兒子漆德克雅前來，打米加雅的臉說：「上主的神有何曾離開了我，而同你談話呢﹖」
 列上:22.25  米加雅答說：「在你進入最嚴密的室內隱藏的那一天，你就會知道了。」
 列上:22.26  以色列王吩咐說：「將米加雅帶回去，交給阿孟市長及約阿士王子，
 列上:22.27  說君王這樣吩咐：將這人下在監裏，少給他吃的喝的，等我平安回來。」
 列上:22.28  米加雅說：「你如果能平安回來，那麼，上主就沒有藉我說過話。」後又說：「眾百姓! 你們要聽清楚啊! 」
 列上:22.29  [阿哈布陣亡]  以色列王遂與猶大王約沙法特上去，進攻辣摩特基肋阿得。
 列上:22.30  以色列王對約沙法特說：「我要改裝上陣，你可以仍穿朝服。」於是以色列王改裝上了陣。
 列上:22.31  阿蘭王曾吩咐自己的三十二個戰車隊長說：「你們不必與大小將士交戰，只攻打以色列王! 」
 列上:22.32  戰車隊長一看見約沙法特，便說：「這必是以色列王! 」遂轉身向他進攻，約沙法特連聲叫苦；
 列上:22.33  戰車隊長見他不是以色列王，就不再追擊他。
 列上:22.34  有人偶然一箭，射入以色列王的鎧甲與腰帶中間，君王對駕車的人說：「轉回! 載我離開陣地，我已受傷。」
 列上:22.35  但那天戰事越來越激烈，君王仍然立在車上，抵抗阿蘭人；晚上君王就死了；傷處的血直流到車底。
 列上:22.36  約在日落的時候，營中傳出號令說：「各自回城，各自歸家，
 列上:22.37  君王已死! 」人們將君王送回撒瑪黎雅，在那裏埋葬了。
 列上:22.38  在撒瑪黎雅的池塘中，洗滌君王的車時，有狗來舔他的血，有妓女在那裏沐浴，正應驗上主所說的話。
 列上:22.39  阿哈布其餘得事蹟，他的一切作為，所建造的象牙宮，以及修築的一切城市，都記載在以色列列王實錄上。
 列上:22.40  阿哈布與祖先同眠，他的兒子阿哈齊雅繼位為王。
 列上:22.41  [約沙法特為猶大王]  以色列王阿哈布四年，阿撒的兒子約沙法特登極作猶大王。
 列上:22.42  約沙法特登極時，年三十五歲；在耶路撒冷作王二十五年；他的母親名叫阿組巴，是史肋希的女兒。
 列上:22.43  約沙法特完全走了他父親阿撒的道路，不偏左右，行了上主視為正義的事；
 列上:22.44  只有丘壇，還沒有鏟除，人民仍在丘壇上焚香獻祭。
 列上:22.45  約沙法特與以色列王相安無事。
 列上:22.46  約沙法特其餘的事蹟，他所做的英雄事蹟，以及如何作戰，都記載在猶大列王實錄上。
 列上:22.47  約沙法特將他父親活著時，所留下的為神賣淫的男女，全從國內鏟除。
 列上:22.48  當時在厄東沒有君王，只有總督代理。
 列上:22.49  約沙法特建造了塔爾史士船隻，為到敖非爾去運輸黃金，然而沒有到達，船隻就在厄茲雍革貝爾破壞了。
 列上:22.50  那時阿哈布的兒子阿哈齊雅對約沙法特說：「讓我的僕人同你的僕人一起坐船去好了! 」但是，約沙法特沒有同意。
 列上:22.51  約沙法特與祖先同眠，與祖先一同葬在達味城；他的兒子約蘭繼位為王。
 列上:22.52  [阿哈齊雅為以色列王]  猶大王約沙法特十七年，阿哈布的兒子阿哈齊雅，在撒瑪黎雅登極作以色列王；他作王統治以色列只有兩年，
 列上:22.53  行了上主視為惡的事，隨從了他父親和他母親以及乃巴特的兒子雅洛貝罕，使以色列陷於罪惡的道路，
 列上:22.54  服事敬拜了巴耳，激怒了上主，以色列的天主，全像他父親所作的一樣。 　[列王紀上完篇]
 　 
 1kgs:1.       [1 Kings]    22 chapters  [列王紀上]  [英文版]
    
 1kgs:1.1    When King David was old and advanced in years, though they spread covers over him he could not keep warm.
 1kgs:1.2    His servants therefore said to him, "Let a young virgin be sought to attend you, lord king, and to nurse you. If she sleeps with your royal majesty, you will be kept warm."
 1kgs:1.3    So they sought for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunamite, whom they brought to the king.
 1kgs:1.4    The maiden, who was very beautiful, nursed the king and cared for him, but the king did not have relations with her.
 1kgs:1.5    Adonijah, son of Haggith, began to display his ambition to be king. He acquired chariots, drivers, and fifty henchmen.
 1kgs:1.6    Yet his father never rebuked him or asked why he was doing this. Adonijah was also very handsome, and next in age to Absalom by the same mother.
 1kgs:1.7    He conferred with Joab, son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and they supported him.
 1kgs:1.8    However, Zadok the priest, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, and Shimei and his companions, the pick of David's army, did not side with Adonijah.
 1kgs:1.9    When he slaughtered sheep, oxen, and fatlings at the stone Zoheleth, near En-rogel, Adonijah invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah.
 1kgs:1.10.  But he did not invite the prophet Nathan, or Benaiah, or the pick of the army, or his brother Solomon.
 1kgs:1.11.  Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother: "Have you not heard that Adonijah, son of Haggith, has become king without the knowledge of our lord David?
 1kgs:1.12.  Come now, let me advise you so that you may save your life and that of your son Solomon.
 1kgs:1.13.  Go, visit King David, and say to him, 'Did you not, lord king, swear to your handmaid: Your son Solomon shall be king after me and shall sit upon my throne? Why, then, has Adonijah become king?'
 1kgs:1.14.  And while you are still there speaking to the king, I will come in after you and confirm what you have said."
 1kgs:1.15.  So Bathsheba visited the king in his room, while Abishag the Shunamite was attending him because of his advanced age.
 1kgs:1.16.  Bathsheba bowed in homage to the king, who said to her, "What do you wish?"
 1kgs:1.17.  She answered him: "My lord, you swore to me your handmaid by the LORD, your God, that my son Solomon should reign after you and sit upon your throne.
 1kgs:1.18.  But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord king, do not know it.
 1kgs:1.19.  He has slaughtered oxen, fatlings, and sheep in great numbers; he has invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the general of the army, but not your servant Solomon.
 1kgs:1.20.  Now, my lord king, all Israel is waiting for you to make known to them who is to sit on the throne after your royal majesty.
 1kgs:1.21.  If this is not done, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals."
 1kgs:1.22.  While she was still speaking to the king, the prophet Nathan came in.
 1kgs:1.23.  When he had been announced, the prophet entered the king's presence and, bowing to the floor, did him homage.
 1kgs:1.24.  Then Nathan said: "Have you decided, my lord king, that Adonijah is to reign after you and sit on your throne?
 1kgs:1.25.  He went down today and slaughtered oxen, fatlings, and sheep in great numbers; he invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and they are eating and drinking in his company and saying, 'Long live King Adonijah!'
 1kgs:1.26.  But me, your servant, he did not invite; nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.
 1kgs:1.27.  Was this done by my royal master's order without my being told who was to succeed to your majesty's kingly throne?"
 1kgs:1.28.  King David answered, "Call Bathsheba here." When she re-entered the king's presence and stood before him,
 1kgs:1.29.  the king swore, "As the LORD lives, who has delivered me from all distress,
 1kgs:1.30.  this very day I will fulfill the oath I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, that your son Solomon should reign after me and should sit upon my throne in my place."
 1kgs:1.31.  Bowing to the floor in homage to the king, Bathsheba said, "May my lord, King David, live forever!"
 1kgs:1.32.  Then King David summoned Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, son of Jehoiada. When they had entered the king's presence,
 1kgs:1.33.  he said to them: "Take with you the royal attendants. Mount my son Solomon upon my own mule and escort him down to Gihon.
 1kgs:1.34.  There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him king of Israel, and you shall blow the horn and cry, 'Long live King Solomon!'
 1kgs:1.35.  When you come back in his train, he is to go in and sit upon my throne and reign in my place. I designate him ruler of Israel and of Judah."
 1kgs:1.36.  In answer to the king, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, said: "So be it! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so decree!
 1kgs:1.37.  As the LORD has been with your royal majesty, so may he be with Solomon, and exalt his throne even more than that of my lord, King David!"
 1kgs:1.38.  So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and Pelethites went down, and mounting Solomon on King David's mule, escorted him to Gihon.
 1kgs:1.39.  Then Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. They blew the horn and all the people shouted, "Long live King Solomon!"
 1kgs:1.40.  Then all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing so much as to split open the earth with their shouting.
 1kgs:1.41.  Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it, just as they ended their banquet. When Joab heard the sound of the horn, he asked, "What does this uproar in the city mean?"
 1kgs:1.42.  As he was speaking, Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest, arrived. "Come," said Adonijah, "you are a man of worth and must bring good news."
 1kgs:1.43.  "On the contrary!" Jonathan answered him. "Our lord, King David, has made Solomon king.
 1kgs:1.44.  The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and Pelethites, and they mounted him upon the king's own mule.
 1kgs:1.45.  Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king at Gihon, and they went up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. That is the noise you heard.
 1kgs:1.46.  Besides, Solomon took his seat on the royal throne,
 1kgs:1.47.  and the king's servants went in and paid their respects to our lord, King David, saying, 'May God make Solomon more famous than you and exalt his throne more than your own!' And the king in his bed worshiped God,
 1kgs:1.48.  and this is what he said: 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has this day seated one of my sons upon my throne, so that I see it with my own eyes.'"
 1kgs:1.49.  All the guests of Adonijah left in terror, each going his own way.
 1kgs:1.50.  Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, also left; he went and seized the horns of the altar.
 1kgs:1.51.  It was reported to Solomon that Adonijah, in his fear of King Solomon, had seized the horns of the altar and said, "Let King Solomon first swear that he will not kill me, his servant, with the sword."
 1kgs:1.52.  Solomon answered, "If he proves himself worthy, not a hair shall fall from his head. But if he is found guilty of crime, he shall die."
 1kgs:1.53.  King Solomon sent to have him brought down from the altar, and he came and paid homage to the king. Solomon then said to him, "Go to your home."
    
 1kgs:2.1    When the time of David's death drew near, he gave these instructions to his son Solomon:
 1kgs:2.2    "I am going the way of all mankind. Take courage and be a man.
 1kgs:2.3    Keep the mandate of the LORD, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn,
 1kgs:2.4    and the LORD may fulfill the promise he made on my behalf when he said, 'If your sons so conduct themselves that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart and with their whole soul, you shall always have someone of your line on the throne of Israel.'
 1kgs:2.5    You yourself know what Joab, son of Zeruiah, did to me when he slew the two generals of Israel's armies, Abner, son of Ner, and Amasa, son of Jether. He took revenge for the blood of war in a time of peace, and put bloodshed without provocation on the belt about my waist and the sandal on my foot.
 1kgs:2.6    Act with the wisdom you possess; you must not allow him to go down to the grave in peaceful old age.
 1kgs:2.7    "But be kind to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and have them eat at your table. For they received me kindly when I was fleeing your brother Absalom.
 1kgs:2.8    "You also have with you Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed me balefully when I was going to Mahanaim. Because he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD that I would not put him to the sword.
 1kgs:2.9    But you must not let him go unpunished. You are a prudent man and will know how to deal with him to send down his hoary head in blood to the grave."
 1kgs:2.10.  David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.
 1kgs:2.11.  The length of David's reign over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
 1kgs:2.12.  When Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David, with his sovereignty firmly established,
 1kgs:2.13.  Adonijah, son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. "Do you come as a friend?" she asked. "Yes," he answered,
 1kgs:2.14.  and added, "I have something to say to you." She replied, "Say it."
 1kgs:2.15.  So he said: "You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel expected me to be king. But the kingdom escaped me and became my brother's, for the LORD gave it to him.
 1kgs:2.16.  But now there is one favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse me." And she said, "Speak on."
 1kgs:2.17.  He said, "Please ask King Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite for my wife."
 1kgs:2.18.  "Very well," replied Bathsheba, "I will speak to the king for you."
 1kgs:2.19.  Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king's mother, who sat at his right.
 1kgs:2.20.  "There is one small favor I would ask of you," she said. "Do not refuse me." "Ask it, my mother," the king said to her, "for I will not refuse you."
 1kgs:2.21.  So she said, "Let Abishag the Shunamite be given to your brother Adonijah for his wife."
 1kgs:2.22.  "And why do you ask Abishag the Shunamite for Adonijah?" King Solomon answered his mother. "Ask the kingdom for him as well, for he is my elder brother and has with him Abiathar the priest and Joab, son of Zeruiah."
 1kgs:2.23.  And King Solomon swore by the LORD: "May God do thus and so to me, and more besides, if Adonijah has not proposed this at the cost of his life.
 1kgs:2.24.  And now, as the LORD lives, who has seated me firmly on the throne of my father David and made of me a dynasty as he promised, this day shall Adonijah be put to death."
 1kgs:2.25.  Then King Solomon sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, who struck him dead.
 1kgs:2.26.  The king said to Abiathar the priest: "Go to your land in Anathoth. Though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David and shared in all the hardships my father endured."
 1kgs:2.27.  So Solomon deposed Abiathar from his office of priest of the LORD, thus fulfilling the prophecy which the LORD had made in Shiloh about the house of Eli.
 1kgs:2.28.  When the news came to Joab, who had sided with Adonijah, though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and seized the horns of the altar.
 1kgs:2.29.  King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD and was at the altar. He sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, with the order, "Go, strike him down."
 1kgs:2.30.  Benaiah went to the tent of the LORD and said to him, "The king says, 'Come out.'" But he answered, "No! I will die here." Benaiah reported to the king, "This is what Joab said to me in reply."
 1kgs:2.31.  The king answered him: "Do as he has said, Strike him down and bury him, and you will remove from me and from my family the blood which Joab shed without provocation.
 1kgs:2.32.  The LORD will hold him responsible for his own blood, because he struck down two men better and more just than himself, and slew them with the sword without my father David's knowledge: Abner, son of Ner, general of Israel's army, and Amasa, son of Jether, general of Judah's army.
 1kgs:2.33.  Joab and his descendants shall be responsible forever for their blood. But there shall be the peace of the LORD forever for David, and his descendants, and his house, and his throne."
 1kgs:2.34.  Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, went back, struck him down and killed him; he was buried in his house in the desert.
 1kgs:2.35.  The king appointed Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, over the army in his place, and put Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.
 1kgs:2.36.  Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him: "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there. Do not go anywhere else.
 1kgs:2.37.  For if you leave, and cross the Kidron Valley, be certain you shall die without fail. You shall be responsible for your own blood."
 1kgs:2.38.  Shimei answered the king: "I accept. Your servant will do just as the king's majesty has said." So Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.
 1kgs:2.39.  But three years later, two of Shimei's servants ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath, and Shimei was informed that his servants were in Gath.
 1kgs:2.40.  So Shimei rose, saddled his ass, and went to Achish in Gath in search of his servants, whom he brought back.
 1kgs:2.41.  When Solomon was informed that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned,
 1kgs:2.42.  the king summoned Shimei and said to him: "Did I not have you swear by the LORD to your clear understanding of my warning that, if you left and went anywhere else, you should die without fail? And you answered, 'I accept and obey.'
 1kgs:2.43.  Why, then, have you not kept the oath of the LORD and the command that I gave you?"
 1kgs:2.44.  And the king said to Shimei: "You know in your heart the evil that you did to my father David. Now the LORD requites you for your own wickedness.
 1kgs:2.45.  But King Solomon shall be blessed, and David's throne shall endure before the LORD forever."
 1kgs:2.46.  The king then gave the order to Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, who struck him dead as he left.
    
 1kgs:3.1    With the royal power firmly in his grasp, Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The daughter of Pharaoh, whom he married, he brought to the City of David, until he should finish building his palace, and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem.
 1kgs:3.2    However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, for up to that time no temple had been built to the name of the LORD.
 1kgs:3.3    Solomon loved the LORD, and obeyed the statutes of his father David; yet he offered sacrifice and burned incense on the high places.
 1kgs:3.4    The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because that was the most renowned high place. Upon its altar Solomon offered a thousand holocausts.
 1kgs:3.5    In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you."
 1kgs:3.6    Solomon answered: "You have shown great favor to your servant, my father David, because he behaved faithfully toward you, with justice and an upright heart; and you have continued this great favor toward him, even today, seating a son of his on his throne.
 1kgs:3.7    O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
 1kgs:3.8    I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
 1kgs:3.9    Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"
 1kgs:3.10.  The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.
 1kgs:3.11.  So God said to him: "Because you have asked for this--not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right--
 1kgs:3.12.  I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.
 1kgs:3.13.  In addition, I give you what you have not asked for, such riches and glory that among kings there is not your like.
 1kgs:3.14.  And if you follow me by keeping my statutes and commandments, as your father David did, I will give you a long life."
 1kgs:3.15.  When Solomon awoke from his dream, he went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offered holocausts and peace offerings, and gave a banquet for all his servants.
 1kgs:3.16.  Later, two harlots came to the king and stood before him.
 1kgs:3.17.  One woman said: "By your leave, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth in the house while she was present.
 1kgs:3.18.  On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were alone in the house; there was no one there but us two.
 1kgs:3.19.  This woman's son died during the night; she smothered him by lying on him.
 1kgs:3.20.  Later that night she got up and took my son from my side, as I, your handmaid, was sleeping. Then she laid him in her bosom, after she had laid her dead child in my bosom.
 1kgs:3.21.  I rose in the morning to nurse my child, and I found him dead. But when I examined him in the morning light, I saw it was not the son whom I had borne."
 1kgs:3.22.  The other woman answered, "It is not so! The living one is my son, the dead one is yours." But the first kept saying, "No, the dead one is your child, the living one is mine!" Thus they argued before the king.
 1kgs:3.23.  Then the king said: "One woman claims, 'This, the living one, is my child, and the dead one is yours.' The other answers, 'No! The dead one is your child; the living one is mine.'"
 1kgs:3.24.  The king continued, "Get me a sword." When they brought the sword before him,
 1kgs:3.25.  he said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other."
 1kgs:3.26.  The woman whose son it was, in the anguish she felt for it, said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living child--please do not kill it!" The other, however, said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide it!"
 1kgs:3.27.  The king then answered, "Give the first one the living child! By no means kill it, for she is the mother."
 1kgs:3.28.  When all Israel heard the judgment the king had given, they were in awe of him, because they saw that the king had in him the wisdom of God for giving judgment.
    
 1kgs:4.1    Solomon was king over all Israel,
 1kgs:4.2    and these were the officials he had in his service: Azariah, son of Zadok, priest;
 1kgs:4.3    Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, chancellor;
 1kgs:4.4    (Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, commander of the army; Zadok and Abiathar, priests;)
 1kgs:4.5    Azariah, son of Nathan, chief of the commissaries; Zabud, son of Nathan, companion to the king;
 1kgs:4.6    Ahishar, major-domo of the palace; and Adoniram, son of Abda, superintendent of the forced labor.
 1kgs:4.7    Solomon had twelve commissaries for all Israel who supplied food for the king and his household, each having to provide for one month in the year.
 1kgs:4.8    Their names were: the son of Hur in the hill country of Ephraim;
 1kgs:4.9    the son of Deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, Elon and Beth-hanan;
 1kgs:4.10.  the son of Hesed in Arubboth, as well as in Socoh and the whole region of Hepher;
 1kgs:4.11.  the son of Abinadab, who was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath, in all the Naphath-dor;
 1kgs:4.12.  Baana, son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and beyond Jokmeam, and in all Beth-shean, and in the country around Zarethan below Jezreel from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah;
 1kgs:4.13.  the son of Geber in Ramoth-gilead, having charge of the villages of Jair, son of Manasseh, in Gilead; and of the district of Argob in Bashan--sixty large walled cities with gates barred with bronze;
 1kgs:4.14.  Ahinadab, son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
 1kgs:4.15.  Ahimaaz, who was married to Basemath, another daughter of Solomon, in Naphtali;
 1kgs:4.16.  Baana, son of Hushai, in Asher and along the rocky coast;
 1kgs:4.17.  Jehoshaphat, son of Paruah, in Issachar;
 1kgs:4.18.  Shimei, son of Ela, in Benjamin;
 1kgs:4.19.  Geber, son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan. There was one prefect besides, in the king's own land.
 1kgs:4.20.  Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sands by the sea; they ate and drank and made merry.
    
 1kgs:5.1    Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, down to the border of Egypt; they paid Solomon tribute and were his vassals as long as he lived.
 1kgs:5.2    Solomon's supplies for each day were thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal,
 1kgs:5.3    ten fatted oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, not counting harts, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.
 1kgs:5.4    He ruled over all the land west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and over all its kings, and he had peace on all his borders round about.
 1kgs:5.5    Thus Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine or under his fig tree from Dan to Beer-sheba, as long as Solomon lived.
 1kgs:5.6    Solomon had four thousand stalls for his twelve thousand chariot horses.
 1kgs:5.7    These commissaries, one for each month, provided food for King Solomon and for all the guests at the royal table. They left nothing unprovided.
 1kgs:5.8    For the chariot horses and draft animals also, each brought his quota of barley and straw to the required place.
 1kgs:5.9    Moreover, God gave Solomon wisdom and exceptional understanding and knowledge, as vast as the sand on the seashore.
 1kgs:5.10.  Solomon surpassed all the Cedemites and all the Egyptians in wisdom.
 1kgs:5.11.  He was wiser than all other men--than Ethan the Ezrahite, or Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the musicians--and his fame spread throughout the neighboring nations.
 1kgs:5.12.  Solomon also uttered three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.
 1kgs:5.13.  He discussed plants, from the cedar on Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall, and he spoke about beasts, birds, reptiles, and fishes.
 1kgs:5.14.  Men came to hear Solomon's wisdom from all nations, sent by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
 1kgs:5.15.  When Hiram, king of Tyre, heard that Solomon had been anointed king in place of his father, he sent an embassy to him; for Hiram had always been David's friend.
 1kgs:5.16.  Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
 1kgs:5.17.  "You know that my father David, because of the enemies surrounding him on all sides, could not build a temple in honor of the LORD, his God, until such a time as the LORD should put these enemies under the soles of his feet.
 1kgs:5.18.  But now the LORD, my God, has given me peace on all sides. There is no enemy or threat of danger.
 1kgs:5.19.  So I purpose to build a temple in honor of the LORD, my God, as the LORD predicted to my father David when he said: 'It is your son whom I will put upon your throne in your place who shall build the temple in my honor.'
 1kgs:5.20.  Give orders, then, to have cedars from the Lebanon cut down for me. My servants shall accompany yours, since you know that there is no one among us who is skilled in cutting timber like the Sidonians, and I will pay you whatever you say for your servants' salary."
 1kgs:5.21.  When he had heard the words of Solomon, Hiram was pleased and said, "Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given David a wise son to rule this numerous people."
 1kgs:5.22.  Hiram then sent word to Solomon, "I agree to the proposal you sent me, and I will provide all the cedars and fir trees you wish.
 1kgs:5.23.  My servants shall bring them down from the Lebanon to the sea, and I will arrange them into rafts in the sea and bring them wherever you say. There I will break up the rafts, and you shall take the lumber. You, for your part, shall furnish the provisions I desire for my household."
 1kgs:5.24.  So Hiram continued to provide Solomon with all the cedars and fir trees he wished;
 1kgs:5.25.  while Solomon every year gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat to provide for his household, and twenty thousand measures of pure oil.
 1kgs:5.26.  The LORD, moreover, gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, since they were parties to a treaty.
 1kgs:5.27.  King Solomon conscripted thirty thousand workmen from all Israel.
 1kgs:5.28.  He sent them to the Lebanon each month in relays of ten thousand, so that they spent one month in the Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft.
 1kgs:5.29.  Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain,
 1kgs:5.30.  in addition to three thousand three hundred overseers, answerable to Solomon's prefects for the work, directing the people engaged in the work.
 1kgs:5.31.  By order of the king, fine, large blocks were quarried to give the temple a foundation of hewn stone.
 1kgs:5.32.  Solomon's and Hiram's builders, along with the Gebalites, hewed them out, and prepared the wood and stones for building the temple.
    
 1kgs:6.1    In the four hundred and eightieth year from the departure of the Israelites from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, the construction of the temple of the LORD was begun.
 1kgs:6.2    The temple which King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide, and twenty-five high.
 1kgs:6.3    The porch in front of the temple was twenty cubits from side to side, along the width of the nave, and ten cubits deep in front of the temple.
 1kgs:6.4    Splayed windows with trellises were made for the temple,
 1kgs:6.5    and adjoining the wall of the temple, which enclosed the nave and the sanctuary, an annex of several stories was built.
 1kgs:6.6    Its lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle one six cubits wide, the third seven cubits wide, because there were offsets along the outside of the temple so that the beams would not be fastened into the walls of the temple.
 1kgs:6.7    (The temple was built of stone dressed at the quarry, so that no hammer, axe, or iron tool was to be heard in the temple during its construction.)
 1kgs:6.8    The entrance to the lowest floor of the annex was at the right side of the temple, and stairs with intermediate landings led up to the middle story and from the middle story to the third.
 1kgs:6.9    When the temple was built to its full height, it was roofed in with rafters and boards of cedar.
 1kgs:6.10.  The annex, with its lowest story five cubits high, was built all along the outside of the temple, to which it was joined by cedar beams.
 1kgs:6.11.  This word of the LORD came to Solomon:
 1kgs:6.12.  "As to this temple you are building--if you observe my statutes, carry out my ordinances, keep and obey all my commands, I will fulfill toward you the promise I made to your father David.
 1kgs:6.13.  I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites and will not forsake my people Israel."
 1kgs:6.14.  When Solomon finished building the temple,
 1kgs:6.15.  its walls were lined from floor to ceiling beams with cedar paneling, and its floor was laid with fir planking.
 1kgs:6.16.  At the rear of the temple a space of twenty cubits was set off by cedar partitions from the floor to the rafters, enclosing the sanctuary, the holy of holies.
 1kgs:6.17.  The nave, or part of the temple in front of the sanctuary, was forty cubits long.
 1kgs:6.18.  The cedar in the interior of the temple was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers; all was of cedar, and no stone was to be seen.
 1kgs:6.19.  In the innermost part of the temple was located the sanctuary to house the ark of the LORD'S covenant,
 1kgs:6.20.  twenty cubits long, twenty wide, and twenty high.
 1kgs:6.21.  Solomon overlaid the interior of the temple with pure gold. He made in front of the sanctuary a cedar altar, overlaid it with gold, and looped it with golden chains.
 1kgs:6.22.  The entire temple was overlaid with gold so that it was completely covered with it; the whole altar before the sanctuary was also overlaid with gold.
 1kgs:6.23.  In the sanctuary were two cherubim, each ten cubits high, made of olive wood.
 1kgs:6.24.  Each wing of a cherub measured five cubits so that the space from wing tip to wing tip of each was ten cubits.
 1kgs:6.25.  The cherubim were identical in size and shape,
 1kgs:6.26.  and each was exactly ten cubits high.
 1kgs:6.27.  The cherubim were placed in the inmost part of the temple, with their wings spread wide, so that one wing of each cherub touched a side wall while the other wing, pointing toward the middle of the room, touched the corresponding wing of the second cherub.
 1kgs:6.28.  The cherubim, too, were overlaid with gold.
 1kgs:6.29.  The walls on all sides of both the inner and the outer rooms had carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
 1kgs:6.30.  The floor of both the inner and the outer rooms was overlaid with gold.
 1kgs:6.31.  At the entrance of the sanctuary, doors of olive wood were made; the doorframes had beveled posts.
 1kgs:6.32.  The two doors were of olive wood, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The doors were overlaid with gold, which was also molded to the cherubim and the palm trees.
 1kgs:6.33.  The same was done at the entrance to the nave, where the doorposts of olive wood were rectangular.
 1kgs:6.34.  The two doors were of fir wood; each door was banded by a metal strap, front and back,
 1kgs:6.35.  and had carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, over which gold was evenly applied.
 1kgs:6.36.  The inner court was walled off by means of three courses of hewn stones and one course of cedar beams.
 1kgs:6.37.  The foundations of the LORD'S temple were laid in the month of Ziv
 1kgs:6.38.  in the fourth year, and it was completed in all particulars, exactly according to plan, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, in the eleventh year. Thus it took Solomon seven years to build it.
    
 1kgs:7.1    His own palace Solomon completed after thirteen years of construction.
 1kgs:7.2    He built the hall called the Forest of Lebanon one hundred cubits long, fifty wide, and thirty high; it was supported by four rows of cedar columns, with cedar capitals upon the columns.
 1kgs:7.3    Moreover, it had a ceiling of cedar above the beams resting on the columns; these beams numbered forty-five, fifteen to a row.
 1kgs:7.4    There were three window frames at either end, with windows in strict alignment.
 1kgs:7.5    The posts of all the doorways were rectangular, and the doorways faced each other, three at either end.
 1kgs:7.6    The porch of the columned hall he made fifty cubits long and thirty wide. The porch extended the width of the columned hall, and there was a canopy in front.
 1kgs:7.7    He also built the vestibule of the throne where he gave judgment--that is, the tribunal; it was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling beams.
 1kgs:7.8    His living quarters were in another court, set in deeper than the tribunal and of the same construction. A palace like this tribunal was built for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had married.
 1kgs:7.9    All these buildings were of fine stones, hewn to size and trimmed front and back with a saw, from the foundation to the bonding course.
 1kgs:7.10.  (The foundation was made of fine, large blocks, some ten cubits and some eight cubits.
 1kgs:7.11.  Above were fine stones hewn to size, and cedar wood.)
 1kgs:7.12.  The great court was enclosed by three courses of hewn stones and a bonding course of cedar beams. So also were the inner court of the temple of the LORD and the temple porch.
 1kgs:7.13.  King Solomon had Hiram brought from Tyre.
 1kgs:7.14.  He was a bronze worker, the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali; his father had been from Tyre. He was endowed with skill, understanding, and knowledge of how to produce any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his metal work.
 1kgs:7.15.  Two hollow bronze columns were cast, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference; their metal was of four fingers' thickness.
 1kgs:7.16.  There were also two capitals cast in bronze, to place on top of the columns, each of them five cubits high.
 1kgs:7.17.  Two pieces of network with a chainlike mesh were made to cover the (nodes of the) capitals on top of the columns, one for each capital.
 1kgs:7.18.  Four hundred pomegranates were also cast; two hundred of them in a double row encircled the piece of network on each of the two capitals.
 1kgs:7.19.  The capitals on top of the columns were finished wholly in a lotus pattern
 1kgs:7.20.  above the level of the nodes and their enveloping network.
 1kgs:7.21.  The columns were then erected adjacent to the porch of the temple, one to the right, called Jachin, and the other to the left, called Boaz.
 1kgs:7.22.  Thus the work on the columns was completed.
 1kgs:7.23.  The sea was then cast; it was made with a circular rim, and measured ten cubits across, five in height, and thirty in circumference.
 1kgs:7.24.  Under the brim, gourds encircled it, ten to the cubit all the way around; the gourds were in two rows and were cast in one mold with the sea.
 1kgs:7.25.  This rested on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east, with their haunches all toward the center, where the sea was set upon them.
 1kgs:7.26.  It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim resembled that of a cup, being lily-shaped. Its capacity was two thousand measures.
 1kgs:7.27.  Ten stands were also made of bronze, each four cubits long, four wide, and three high.
 1kgs:7.28.  When these stands were constructed, panels were set within the framework.
 1kgs:7.29.  On the panels between the frames there were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the frames likewise, above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths in relief.
 1kgs:7.30.  Each stand had four bronze wheels and bronze axles.
 1kgs:7.31.  This was surmounted by a crown one cubit high within which was a rounded opening to provide a receptacle a cubit and a half in depth. There was carved work at the opening, on panels that were angular, not curved.
 1kgs:7.32.  The four wheels were below the paneling, and the axletrees of the wheels and the stand were of one piece. Each wheel was a cubit and a half high.
 1kgs:7.33.  The wheels were constructed like chariot wheels; their axles, fellies, spokes, and hubs were all cast. The four legs of each stand had cast braces, which were under the basin; they had wreaths on each side.
 1kgs:7.34.  These four braces, extending to the corners of each stand, were of one piece with the stand.
 1kgs:7.35.  On top of the stand there was a raised collar half a cubit high, with supports and panels which were of one piece with the top of the stand.
 1kgs:7.36.  On the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, wherever there was a clear space, cherubim, lions, and palm trees were carved, as well as wreaths all around.
 1kgs:7.37.  This was how the ten stands were made, all of the same casting, the same size, the same shape.
 1kgs:7.38.  Ten bronze basins were then made, each four cubits in diameter with a capacity of forty measures, one basin for the top of each of the ten stands.
 1kgs:7.39.  The stands were placed, five on the south side of the temple and five on the north. The sea was placed off to the southeast from the south side of the temple.
 1kgs:7.40.  When Hiram made the pots, shovels, and bowls, he therewith completed all his work for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD:
 1kgs:7.41.  two columns, two nodes for the capitals on top of the columns, two pieces of network covering the nodes for the capitals on top of the columns,
 1kgs:7.42.  four hundred pomegranates in double rows on both pieces of network that covered the two nodes of the capitals where they met the columns,
 1kgs:7.43.  ten stands, ten basins on the stands,
 1kgs:7.44.  one sea, twelve oxen supporting the sea,
 1kgs:7.45.  pots, shovels, and bowls. All these articles which Hiram made for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD were of burnished bronze.
 1kgs:7.46.  The king had them cast in the neighborhood of the Jordan, in the clayey ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
 1kgs:7.47.  Solomon did not weigh all the articles because they were so numerous; the weight of the bronze, therefore, was not determined.
 1kgs:7.48.  Solomon had all the articles made for the interior of the temple of the LORD: the golden altar; the golden table on which the showbread lay;
 1kgs:7.49.  the lampstands of pure gold, five to the right and five to the left before the sanctuary, with their flowers, lamps, and tongs of gold;
 1kgs:7.50.  basins, snuffers, bowls, cups, and fire pans of pure gold; and hinges of gold for the doors of the inner room, or holy of holies, and for the doors of the outer room, the nave.
 1kgs:7.51.  When all the work undertaken by King Solomon in the temple of the LORD was completed, he brought in the dedicated offerings of his father David, putting the silver, gold, and other articles in the treasuries of the temple of the LORD.
    
 1kgs:8.1    At the order of Solomon, the elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes, the princes in the ancestral houses of the Israelites, came to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD'S covenant from the city of David (which is Zion).
 1kgs:8.2    All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month).
 1kgs:8.3    When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark;
 1kgs:8.4    they carried the ark of the LORD and the meeting tent with all the sacred vessels that were in the tent. (The priests and Levites carried them.)
 1kgs:8.5    King Solomon and the entire community of Israel present for the occasion sacrificed before the ark sheep and oxen too many to number or count.
 1kgs:8.6    The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary, the holy of holies of the temple.
 1kgs:8.7    The cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the ark, sheltering the ark and its poles from above.
 1kgs:8.8    The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from that part of the holy place adjoining the sanctuary; however, they could not be seen beyond. (They have remained there to this day.)
 1kgs:8.9    There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets which Moses had put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites at their departure from the land of Egypt.
 1kgs:8.10.  When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
 1kgs:8.11.  so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud, since the LORD'S glory had filled the temple of the LORD.
 1kgs:8.12.  Then Solomon said, "The LORD intends to dwell in the dark cloud;
 1kgs:8.13.  I have truly built you a princely house, a dwelling where you may abide forever."
 1kgs:8.14.  The king turned and greeted the whole community of Israel as they stood.
 1kgs:8.15.  He said to them: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own mouth made a promise to my father David and by his hand has brought it to fulfillment. It was he who said,
 1kgs:8.16.  'Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city out of any tribe of Israel for the building of a temple to my honor; but I choose David to rule my people Israel.'
 1kgs:8.17.  When my father David wished to build a temple to the honor of the LORD, the God of Israel,
 1kgs:8.18.  the LORD said to him, 'In wishing to build a temple to my honor, you do well.
 1kgs:8.19.  It will not be you, however, who will build the temple; but the son who will spring from you, he shall build the temple to my honor.'
 1kgs:8.20.  And now the LORD has fulfilled the promise that he made: I have succeeded my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD foretold, and I have built this temple to honor the LORD, the God of Israel.
 1kgs:8.21.  I have provided in it a place for the ark in which is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt."
 1kgs:8.22.  Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of the whole community of Israel, and stretching forth his hands toward heaven,
 1kgs:8.23.  he said, "LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below; you keep your covenant of kindness with your servants who are faithful to you with their whole heart.
 1kgs:8.24.  You have kept the promise you made to my father David, your servant. You who spoke that promise, have this day, by your own power, brought it to fulfillment.
 1kgs:8.25.  Now, therefore, LORD, God of Israel, keep the further promise you made to my father David, your servant, saying, 'You shall always have someone from your line to sit before me on the throne of Israel, provided only that your descendants look to their conduct so that they live in my presence, as you have lived in my presence.'
 1kgs:8.26.  Now, LORD, God of Israel, may this promise which you made to my father David, your servant, be confirmed.
 1kgs:8.27.  "Can it indeed be that God dwells among men on earth? If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built!
 1kgs:8.28.  Look kindly on the prayer and petition of your servant, O LORD, my God, and listen to the cry of supplication which I, your servant, utter before you this day.
 1kgs:8.29.  May your eyes watch night and day over this temple, the place where you have decreed you shall be honored; may you heed the prayer which I, your servant, offer in this place.
 1kgs:8.30.  Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel which they offer in this place. Listen from your heavenly dwelling and grant pardon.
 1kgs:8.31.  "If a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath sanctioned by a curse, when he comes and takes the oath before your altar in this temple,
 1kgs:8.32.  listen in heaven; take action and pass judgment on your servants. Condemn the wicked and punish him for his conduct, but acquit the just and establish his innocence.
 1kgs:8.33.  "If your people Israel sin against you and are defeated by an enemy, and if then they return to you, praise your name, pray to you, and entreat you in this temple,
 1kgs:8.34.  listen in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave their fathers.
 1kgs:8.35.  "If the sky is closed, so that there is no rain, because they have sinned against you and you afflict them, and if then they repent of their sin, and pray, and praise your name in this place,
 1kgs:8.36.  listen in heaven and forgive the sin of your servant and of your people Israel, teaching them the right way to live and sending rain upon this land of yours which you have given to your people as their heritage.
 1kgs:8.37.  "If there is famine in the land or pestilence; or if blight comes, or mildew, or a locust swarm, or devouring insects; if an enemy of your people besieges them in one of their cities; whatever plague or sickness there may be,
 1kgs:8.38.  if then any one (of your entire people Israel) has remorse of conscience and offers some prayer or petition, stretching out his hands toward this temple,
 1kgs:8.39.  listen from your heavenly dwelling place and forgive. You who alone know the hearts of all men, render to each one of them according to his conduct; knowing their hearts, so treat them
 1kgs:8.40.  that they may fear you as long as they live on the land you gave our fathers.
 1kgs:8.41.  "To the foreigner, likewise, who is not of your people Israel, but comes from a distant land to honor you
 1kgs:8.42.  (since men will learn of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple,
 1kgs:8.43.  listen from your heavenly dwelling. Do all that the foreigner asks of you, that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, may fear you as do your people Israel, and may acknowledge that this temple which I have built is dedicated to your honor.
 1kgs:8.44.  "Whatever the direction in which you may send your people forth to war against their enemies, if they pray to you, O LORD, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built in your honor,
 1kgs:8.45.  listen in heaven to their prayer and petition, and defend their cause.
 1kgs:8.46.  "When they sin against you (for there is no man who does not sin), and in your anger against them you deliver them to the enemy, so that their captors deport them to a hostile land, far or near,
 1kgs:8.47.  may they repent in the land of their captivity and be converted. If then they entreat you in the land of their captors and say, 'We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked';
 1kgs:8.48.  if with their whole heart and soul they turn back to you in the land of the enemies who took them captive, pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, the city you have chosen, and the temple I have built in your honor,
 1kgs:8.49.  listen from your heavenly dwelling.
 1kgs:8.50.  Forgive your people their sins and all the offenses they have committed against you, and grant them mercy before their captors, so that these will be merciful to them.
 1kgs:8.51.  For they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of an iron furnace.
 1kgs:8.52.  "Thus may your eyes be open to the petition of your servant and to the petition of your people Israel. Hear them whenever they call upon you,
 1kgs:8.53.  because you have set them apart among all the peoples of the earth for your inheritance, as you declared through your servant Moses when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD."
 1kgs:8.54.  When Solomon finished offering this entire prayer of petition to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands outstretched toward heaven.
 1kgs:8.55.  He stood and blessed the whole community of Israel, saying in a loud voice:
 1kgs:8.56.  "Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not a single word has gone unfulfilled of the entire generous promise he made through his servant Moses.
 1kgs:8.57.  May the LORD, our God, be with us as he was with our fathers and may he not forsake us nor cast us off.
 1kgs:8.58.  May he draw our hearts to himself, that we may follow him in everything and keep the commands, statutes, and ordinances which he enjoined on our fathers.
 1kgs:8.59.  May this prayer I have offered to the LORD, our God, be present to him day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and of his people Israel as each day requires,
 1kgs:8.60.  that all the peoples of the earth may know the LORD is God and there is no other.
 1kgs:8.61.  You must be wholly devoted to the LORD, our God, observing his statutes and keeping his commandments, as on this day."
 1kgs:8.62.  The king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD.
 1kgs:8.63.  Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. Thus the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD.
 1kgs:8.64.  On that day the king consecrated the middle of the court facing the temple of the LORD; he offered there the holocausts, the cereal offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to hold these offerings.
 1kgs:8.65.  On this occasion Solomon and all the Israelites, who had assembled in large numbers from Labo of Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt, celebrated the festival before the LORD, our God, for seven days.
 1kgs:8.66.  On the eighth day he dismissed the people, who bade the king farewell and went to their homes, rejoicing and happy over all the blessings the LORD had given to his servant David and to his people Israel.
    
 1kgs:9.1    After Solomon finished building the temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and everything else that he had planned,
 1kgs:9.2    the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon.
 1kgs:9.3    The LORD said to him: "I have heard the prayer of petition which you offered in my presence. I have consecrated this temple which you have built; I confer my name upon it forever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there always.
 1kgs:9.4    As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, sincerely and uprightly, doing just as I have commanded you, keeping my statutes and decrees,
 1kgs:9.5    I will establish your throne of sovereignty over Israel forever, as I promised your father David when I said, 'You shall always have someone from your line on the throne of Israel.'
 1kgs:9.6    But if you and your descendants ever withdraw from me, fail to keep the commandments and statutes which I set before you, and proceed to venerate and worship strange gods,
 1kgs:9.7    I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them and repudiate the temple I have consecrated to my honor. Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all nations,
 1kgs:9.8    and this temple shall become a heap of ruins. Every passerby shall catch his breath in amazement, and ask, 'Why has the LORD done this to the land and to this temple?'
 1kgs:9.9    Men will answer: 'They forsook the LORD, their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt; they adopted strange gods which they worshiped and served. That is why the LORD has brought down upon them all this evil.'"
 1kgs:9.10.  After the twenty years during which Solomon built the two houses, the temple of the LORD and the palace of the king--
 1kgs:9.11.  Hiram, king of Tyre, supplying Solomon with all the cedar wood, fir wood, and gold he wished--King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
 1kgs:9.12.  Hiram left Tyre to see the cities Solomon had given him, but was not satisfied with them.
 1kgs:9.13.  So he said, "What are these cities you have given me, my brother?" And he called them the land of Cabul, as they are called to this day.
 1kgs:9.14.  Hiram, however, had sent king Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold.
 1kgs:9.15.  This is an account of the forced labor which King Solomon levied in order to build the temple of the LORD, his palace, Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer
 1kgs:9.16.  (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had come up and taken Gezer and, after destroying it by fire and slaying all the Canaanites living in the city, had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife;
 1kgs:9.17.  Solomon then rebuilt Gezer), Lower Beth-horon,
 1kgs:9.18.  Baalath, Tamar in the desert of Judah,
 1kgs:9.19.  all his cities for supplies, cities for chariots and for horses, and whatever else Solomon decided should be built in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in the entire land under his dominion.
 1kgs:9.20.  All the non-Israelite people who remained in the land, descendants of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites
 1kgs:9.21.  whose doom the Israelites had been unable to accomplish, Solomon conscripted as forced laborers, as they are to this day.
 1kgs:9.22.  But Solomon enslaved none of the Israelites, for they were his fighting force, his ministers, commanders, adjutants, chariot officers, and charioteers.
 1kgs:9.23.  The supervisors of Solomon's works who policed the people engaged in the work numbered five hundred and fifty.
 1kgs:9.24.  As soon as Pharaoh's daughter went up from the City of David to her palace, which he had built for her, Solomon built Millo.
 1kgs:9.25.  Three times a year Solomon used to offer holocausts and peace offerings on the altar which he had built to the LORD, and to burn incense before the LORD; and he kept the temple in repair.
 1kgs:9.26.  King Solomon also built a fleet at Ezion-geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.
 1kgs:9.27.  In this fleet Hiram placed his own expert seamen with the servants of Solomon.
 1kgs:9.28.  They went to Ophir, and brought back four hundred and twenty talents of gold to King Solomon.
    
 1kgs:10.1   The queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon's fame, came to test him with subtle questions.
 1kgs:10.2   She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue, and with camels bearing spices, a large amount of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and questioned him on every subject in which she was interested.
 1kgs:10.3   King Solomon explained everything she asked about, and there remained nothing hidden from him that he could not explain to her.
 1kgs:10.4   When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon's great wisdom, the palace he had built,
 1kgs:10.5   the food at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters, his banquet service, and the holocausts he offered in the temple of the LORD, she was breathless.
 1kgs:10.6   "The report I heard in my country about your deeds and your wisdom is true," she told the king.
 1kgs:10.7   "Though I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes, I have discovered that they were not telling me the half. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard.
 1kgs:10.8   Happy are your men, happy these servants of yours, who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom.
 1kgs:10.9   Blessed be the LORD, your God, whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel. In his enduring love for Israel, the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice."
 1kgs:10.10  Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty gold talents, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
 1kgs:10.11  Hiram's fleet, which used to bring gold from Ophir, also brought from there a large quantity of cabinet wood and precious stones.
 1kgs:10.12  With the wood the king made supports for the temple of the LORD and for the palace of the king, and harps and lyres for the chanters. No more such wood was brought or seen to the present day.
 1kgs:10.13  King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she desired and asked for, besides such presents as were given her from Solomon's royal bounty. Then she returned with her servants to her own country.
 1kgs:10.14  The gold that Solomon received every year weighed six hundred and sixty-six gold talents,
 1kgs:10.15  in addition to what came from the Tarshish fleet, from the traffic of merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country.
 1kgs:10.16  Moreover, King Solomon made two hundred shields of beaten gold (six hundred gold shekels went into each shield)
 1kgs:10.17  and three hundred bucklers of beaten gold (three minas of gold went into each buckler); and he put them in the hall of the Forest of Lebanon.
 1kgs:10.18  The king also had a large ivory throne made, and overlaid it with refined gold.
 1kgs:10.19  The throne had six steps, a back with a round top, and an arm on each side of the seat. Next to each arm stood a lion;
 1kgs:10.20  and twelve other lions stood on the steps, two to a step, one on either side of each step. Nothing like this was produced in any other kingdom.
 1kgs:10.21  In addition, all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the utensils in the hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. There was no silver, for in Solomon's time it was considered worthless.
 1kgs:10.22  The king had a fleet of Tarshish ships at sea with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish ships would come with a cargo of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
 1kgs:10.23  Thus King Solomon surpassed in riches and wisdom all the kings of the earth.
 1kgs:10.24  And the whole world sought audience with Solomon, to hear from him the wisdom which God had put in his heart.
 1kgs:10.25  Each one brought his yearly tribute: silver or gold articles, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules.
 1kgs:10.26  Solomon collected chariots and drivers; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand drivers; these he allocated among the chariot cities and to the king's service in Jerusalem.
 1kgs:10.27  The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as numerous as the sycamores of the foothills.
 1kgs:10.28  Solomon's horses were imported from Cilicia, where the king's agents purchased them.
 1kgs:10.29  A chariot imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels, a horse one hundred and fifty shekels; they were exported at these rates to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.
    
 1kgs:11.1   King Solomon loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh (Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites),
 1kgs:11.2   from nations with which the LORD had forbidden the Israelites to intermarry, "because," he said, "they will turn your hearts to their gods." But Solomon fell in love with them.
 1kgs:11.3   He had seven hundred wives of princely rank and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.
 1kgs:11.4   When Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods, and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God, as the heart of his father David had been.
 1kgs:11.5   By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites,
 1kgs:11.6   Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.
 1kgs:11.7   Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab, and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites, on the hill opposite Jerusalem.
 1kgs:11.8   He did the same for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
 1kgs:11.9   The LORD, therefore, became angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice
 1kgs:11.10  (for though the LORD had forbidden him this very act of following strange gods, Solomon had not obeyed him).
 1kgs:11.11  So the LORD said to Solomon: "Since this is what you want, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes which I enjoined on you, I will deprive you of the kingdom and give it to your servant.
 1kgs:11.12  I will not do this during your lifetime, however, for the sake of your father David; it is your son whom I will deprive.
 1kgs:11.13  Nor will I take away the whole kingdom. I will leave your son one tribe for the sake of my servant David and of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
 1kgs:11.14  The LORD then raised up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, who was of the royal line in Edom.
 1kgs:11.15  Earlier, when David had conquered Edom, Joab, the general of the army, while going to bury the slain, put to death every male in Edom.
 1kgs:11.16  Joab and all Israel remained there six months until they had killed off every male in Edom.
 1kgs:11.17  Meanwhile, Hadad, who was only a boy, fled toward Egypt with some Edomite servants of his father.
 1kgs:11.18  They left Midian and passing through Paran, where they picked up additional men, they went into Egypt to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house, appointed him rations, and assigned him land.
 1kgs:11.19  Hadad won great favor with Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of Queen Tahpenes, his own wife.
 1kgs:11.20  Tahpenes' sister bore Hadad a son, Genubath. After his weaning, the queen kept him in Pharaoh's palace, where he then lived with Pharaoh's own sons.
 1kgs:11.21  When Hadad in Egypt heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab, the general of the army, was dead, he said to Pharaoh, "Give me leave to return to my own country."
 1kgs:11.22  Pharaoh said to him, "What do you lack with me, that you are seeking to return to your own country?" "Nothing," he said, "but please let me go!"
 1kgs:11.23  God raised up against Solomon another adversary, in Rezon, the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer, king of Zobah,
 1kgs:11.24  when David defeated them with slaughter. Rezon gathered men about him and became leader of a band, went to Damascus, settled there, and became king in Damascus.
 1kgs:11.25  He was an enemy of Israel as long as Solomon lived; this added to the harm done by Hadad, who made a rift in Israel by becoming king over Edom.
 1kgs:11.26  Solomon's servant Jeroboam, son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah with a widowed mother, Zeruah, also rebelled against the king.
 1kgs:11.27  This is why he rebelled. King Solomon was building Millo, closing up the breach of his father's City of David.
 1kgs:11.28  Jeroboam was a man of means, and when Solomon saw that he was also an industrious young man, he put him in charge of the entire labor force of the house of Joseph.
 1kgs:11.29  At that time Jeroboam left Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. The two were alone in the area, and the prophet was wearing a new cloak.
 1kgs:11.30  Ahijah took off his new cloak, tore it into twelve pieces,
 1kgs:11.31  and said to Jeroboam: "Take ten pieces for yourself; the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I will tear away the kingdom from Solomon's grasp and will give you ten of the tribes.
 1kgs:11.32  One tribe shall remain to him for the sake of David my servant, and of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
 1kgs:11.33  The ten I will give you because he has forsaken me and has worshiped Astarte, goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, god of Moab, and Milcom, god of the Ammonites; he has not followed my ways or done what is pleasing to me according to my statutes and my decrees, as his father David did.
 1kgs:11.34  Yet I will not take any of the kingdom from Solomon himself, but will keep him a prince as long as he lives for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose, who kept my commandments and statutes.
 1kgs:11.35  But I will take the kingdom from his son and will give it to you--that is, the ten tribes.
 1kgs:11.36  I will give his son one tribe, that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city in which I choose to be honored.
 1kgs:11.37  I will take you; you shall reign over all that you desire and shall become king of Israel.
 1kgs:11.38  If, then, you heed all that I command you, follow my ways, and please me by keeping my statutes and my commandments like my servant David, I will be with you. I will establish for you, as I did for David, a lasting dynasty; I will give Israel to you.
 1kgs:11.39  I will punish David's line for this, but not forever.'"
 1kgs:11.40  When Solomon tried to have Jeroboam killed for his rebellion, he escapedto King Shishak, in Egypt, where he remained until Solomon's death.
 1kgs:11.41  The rest of the acts of Solomon, with all his deeds and his wisdom, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of Solomon.
 1kgs:11.42  The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
 1kgs:11.43  Solomon rested with his ancestors; he was buried in his father's City of David, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
    
 1kgs:12.1   Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had come to proclaim him king.
 1kgs:12.2   Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon, returned from Egypt as soon as he learned this.
 1kgs:12.3   They said to Rehoboam:
 1kgs:12.4   "Your father put on us a heavy yoke. If you now lighten the harsh service and the heavy yoke your father imposed on us, we will serve you."
 1kgs:12.5   "Come back to me in three days," he answered them. When the people had departed,
 1kgs:12.6   King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had been in his father's service while he was alive, and asked, "What answer do you advise me to give this people?"
 1kgs:12.7   They replied, "If today you will be the servant of this people and submit to them, giving them a favorable answer, they will be your servants forever."
 1kgs:12.8   But he ignored the advice the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were in his service.
 1kgs:12.9   He said to them, "What answer do you advise me to give this people, who have asked me to lighten the yoke my father imposed on them?"
 1kgs:12.10  The young men who had grown up with him replied, "This is what you must say to this people who have asked you to lighten the yoke your father put on them: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's body.
 1kgs:12.11  Whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will make it heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.'"
 1kgs:12.12  On the third day all Israel came back to King Rehoboam, as he had instructed them to do.
 1kgs:12.13  Ignoring the advice the elders had given him, the king gave the people a harsh answer.
 1kgs:12.14  He said to them, as the young men had advised: "My father put on you a heavy yoke, but I will make it heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions."
 1kgs:12.15  The king did not listen to the people, for the LORD brought this about to fulfill the prophecy he had uttered to Jeroboam, son of Nebat, through Ahijah the Shilonite.
 1kgs:12.16  When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king: "What share have we in David? We have no heritage in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own house, David."So Israel went off to their tents,
 1kgs:12.17  but Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.
 1kgs:12.18  King Rehoboam then sent out Adoram, superintendent of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. Rehoboam managed to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem,
 1kgs:12.19  and Israel went into rebellion against David's house to this day.
 1kgs:12.20  When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to an assembly and made him king over all Israel. None remained loyal to David's house except the tribe of Judah alone.
 1kgs:12.21  On his arrival in Jersusalem, Rehoboam gathered together all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin--one hundred and eighty thousand seasoned warriors--to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, son of Solomon.
 1kgs:12.22  However, the LORD spoke to Shemaiah, a man of God:
 1kgs:12.23  "Say to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to the house of Judah and to Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:
 1kgs:12.24  'Thus says the LORD: You must not march out to fight against your brother Israelites. Let every man return home, for I have brought this about.'" They accepted this message of the LORD and gave up the expedition accordingly.
 1kgs:12.25  Jeroboam built up Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. Then he left it and built up Penuel.
 1kgs:12.26  Jeroboam thought to himself: "The kingdom will return to David's house.
 1kgs:12.27  If now this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, the hearts of this people will return to their master, Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they will kill me."
 1kgs:12.28  After taking counsel, the king made two calves of gold and said to the people: "You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."
 1kgs:12.29  And he put one in Bethel, the other in Dan.
 1kgs:12.30  This led to sin, because the people frequented these calves in Bethel and in Dan.
 1kgs:12.31  He also built temples on the high places and made priests from among the people who were not Levites.
 1kgs:12.32  Jeroboam established a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month to duplicate in Bethel the pilgrimage feast of Judah, with sacrifices to the calves he had made; and he stationed in Bethel priests of the high places he had built.
 1kgs:12.33  Jeroboam ascended the altar he built in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month in which he arbitrarily chose to establish a feast for the Israelites; he was going to offer sacrifice.
    
 1kgs:13.1   A man of God came from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer sacrifice.
 1kgs:13.2   He cried out against the altar the word of the LORD: "O altar, altar, the LORD says, 'A child shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, who shall slaughter upon you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifice upon you, and he shall burn human bones upon you.'"
 1kgs:13.3   He gave a sign that same day and said: "This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: The altar shall break up and the ashes on it shall be strewn about.
 1kgs:13.4   When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God was crying out against the altar, he stretched forth his hand from the altar and said, "Seize him!" But the hand he stretched forth against him withered, so that he could not draw it back.
 1kgs:13.5   Moreover, the altar broke up and the ashes from it were strewn about--the sign the man of God had given as the word of the LORD.
 1kgs:13.6   Then the king appealed to the man of God. "Entreat the LORD, your God," he said, "and intercede for me that I may be able to withdraw my hand." So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king recovered the normal use of his hand.
 1kgs:13.7   "Come home with me for some refreshment," the king invited the man of God, "and I will give you a present."
 1kgs:13.8   "If you gave me half your kingdom," the man of God said to the king, "I would not go with you, nor eat bread or drink water in this place.
 1kgs:13.9   For I was instructed by the word of the LORD not to eat bread or drink water and not to return by the way I came."
 1kgs:13.10  So he departed by another road and did not go back the way he had come to Bethel.
 1kgs:13.11  There was an old prophet living in the city, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. When they repeated to their father the words he had spoken to the king,
 1kgs:13.12  the father asked them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons pointed out to him the road taken by the man of God who had come from Judah.
 1kgs:13.13  Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the ass for me." When they had saddled it, he mounted
 1kgs:13.14  and followed the man of God, whom he found seated under a terebinth. When he asked him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" he answered, "Yes."
 1kgs:13.15  Then he said, "Come home with me and have some bread."
 1kgs:13.16  "I cannot go back with you, and I cannot eat bread or drink water with you in this place," he answered,
 1kgs:13.17  "for I was told by the word of the LORD neither to eat bread nor drink water here, and not to go back the way I came."
 1kgs:13.18  But he said to him, "I, too, am a prophet like you, and an angel told me in the word of the LORD to bring you back with me to my house and to have you eat bread and drink water." He was lying to him, however.
 1kgs:13.19  So he went back with him, and ate bread and drank water in his house.
 1kgs:13.20  But while they were sitting at table, the LORD spoke to the prophet who had brought him back,
 1kgs:13.21  and he cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah: "The LORD says, 'Because you rebelled against the command of the LORD and did not keep the command which the LORD, your God, gave you,
 1kgs:13.22  but returned and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you to do neither, your corpse shall not be brought to the grave of your ancestors.'"
 1kgs:13.23  After he had eaten bread and drunk water, the ass was saddled for him, and he again
 1kgs:13.24  set out. But a lion met him on the road, and killed him. His corpse lay sprawled on the road, and the ass remained standing by it, and so did the lion.
 1kgs:13.25  Some passers-by saw the body lying in the road, with the lion standing beside it, and carried the news to the city where the old prophet lived.
 1kgs:13.26  On hearing it, the prophet who had brought him back from his journey said: "It is the man of God who rebelled against the command of the LORD. He has delivered him to a lion, which mangled and killed him, as the LORD predicted to him."
 1kgs:13.27  Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the ass for me." When they had saddled it,
 1kgs:13.28  he went off and found the body lying in the road with the ass and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body nor had it harmed the ass.
 1kgs:13.29  The prophet lifted up the body of the man of God and put it on the ass, and brought it back to the city to mourn over it and to bury it.
 1kgs:13.30  He laid the man's body in his own grave, and they mourned over it: "Alas, my brother!"
 1kgs:13.31  After he had buried him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried. Lay my remains beside his.
 1kgs:13.32  For the word of the LORD which he proclaimed against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria shall certainly come to pass."
 1kgs:13.33  Jeroboam did not give up his evil ways after this event, but again made priests for the high places from among the common people. Whoever desired it was consecrated and became a priest of the high places.
 1kgs:13.34  This was a sin on the part of the house of Jeroboam for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the earth.
    
 1kgs:14.1   At that time Abijah, son of Jeroboam, took sick.
 1kgs:14.2   So Jeroboam said to his wife, "Get ready and disguise yourself so that none will recognize you as Jeroboam's wife. Then go to Shiloh, where you will find the prophet Ahijah. It was he who predicted my reign over this people.
 1kgs:14.3   Take along ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of preserves, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the child."
 1kgs:14.4   The wife of Jeroboam obeyed. She made the journey to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah who could not see because age had dimmed his sight.
 1kgs:14.5   The LORD had said to Ahijah: "Jeroboam's wife is coming to consult you about her son, for he is sick. This is what you must tell her. When she comes, she will be in disguise."
 1kgs:14.6   So Ahijah, hearing the sound of her footsteps as she entered the door, said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why are you in disguise? I have been commissioned to give you bitter news.
 1kgs:14.7   Go, tell Jeroboam, 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I exalted you from among the people and made you ruler of my people Israel.
 1kgs:14.8   I deprived the house of David of the kingdom and gave it to you. Yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with his whole heart, doing only what pleased me.
 1kgs:14.9   You have done worse than all who preceded you: you have gone and made for yourself strange gods and molten images to provoke me; but me you have cast behind your back.
 1kgs:14.10  Therefore, I am bringing evil upon the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off every male in Jeroboam's line, whether slave or freeman in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam completely, as though dung were being burned.
 1kgs:14.11  When one of Jeroboam's line dies in the city, dogs will devour him; when one of them dies in the field, he will be devoured by the birds of the sky. For the LORD has spoken!'
 1kgs:14.12  So leave; go home! As you step inside the city, the child will die,
 1kgs:14.13  and all Israel will mourn him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam's line will be laid in the grave, since in him alone of Jeroboam's house has something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, been found.
 1kgs:14.14  Today, at this very moment, the LORD will raise up for himself a king of Israel who will destroy the house of Jeroboam.
 1kgs:14.15  The LORD will strike Israel like a reed tossed about in the water and will pluck out Israel from this good land which he gave their fathers, scattering them beyond the River, because they made sacred poles for themselves and thus provoked the LORD.
 1kgs:14.16  He will give up Israel because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and caused Israel to commit."
 1kgs:14.17  So Jeroboam's wife started back; when she reached Tirzah and crossed the threshold of her house, the child died.
 1kgs:14.18  He was buried with all Israel mourning him, as the LORD had prophesied through his servant the prophet Ahijah.
 1kgs:14.19  The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, with his warfare and his reign, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
 1kgs:14.20  The length of Jeroboam's reign was twenty-two years. He rested with his ancestors, and his son Nadab succeeded him as king.
 1kgs:14.21  Rehoboam, son of Solomon, reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which, out of all the tribes of Israel, the LORD chose to be honored. His mother was the Ammonite named Naamah.
 1kgs:14.22  Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and by their sins angered him even more than their fathers had done.
 1kgs:14.23  They, too, built for themselves high places, pillars, and sacred poles, upon every high hill and under every green tree.
 1kgs:14.24  There were also cult prostitutes in the land. Judah imitated all the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD had cleared out of the Israelites' way.
 1kgs:14.25  In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem.
 1kgs:14.26  He took everything, including the treasures of the temple of the LORD and those of the royal palace, as well as all the gold shields made under Solomon.
 1kgs:14.27  To replace them, King Rehoboam had bronze shields made, which he entrusted to the officers of the guard on duty at the entrance of the royal palace.
 1kgs:14.28  Whenever the king visited the temple of the LORD, those on duty would carry the shields, and then return them to the guardroom.
 1kgs:14.29  The rest of the acts of Rehoboam, with all that he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.
 1kgs:14.30  There was constant warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
 1kgs:14.31  Rehoboam rested with his ancestors; he was buried with them in the City of David. His mother was the Ammonite named Naamah. His son Abijam succeeded him as king.
    
 1kgs:15.1   In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, son of Nebat, Abijam became king of Judah;
 1kgs:15.2   he reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah, daughter of Abishalom.
 1kgs:15.3   He imitated all the sins his father had committed before him, and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God, like the heart of his grandfather David.
 1kgs:15.4   Yet for David's sake the LORD, his God, gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, raising up his son after him and permitting Jerusalem to endure;
 1kgs:15.5   because David had pleased the LORD and did not disobey any of his commands as long as he lived, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.
 1kgs:15.6   There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
 1kgs:15.7   The rest of Abijam's acts, with all that he did, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.
 1kgs:15.8   Abijam rested with his ancestors; he was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa succeeded him as king.
 1kgs:15.9   In the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa, king of Judah, began to reign;
 1kgs:15.10  he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother's name was Maacah, daughter of Abishalom.
 1kgs:15.11  Asa pleased the LORD like his forefather David,
 1kgs:15.12  banishing the temple prostitutes from the land and removing all the idols his father had made.
 1kgs:15.13  He also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an outrageous object for Asherah. Asa cut down this object and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
 1kgs:15.14  The high places did not disappear; yet Asa's heart was entirely with the LORD as long as he lived.
 1kgs:15.15  He brought into the temple of the LORD his father's and his own votive offerings of silver, gold, and various utensils.
 1kgs:15.16  There was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, as long as they both reigned.
 1kgs:15.17  Baasha, king of Israel, attacked Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent communication with Asa, king of Judah.
 1kgs:15.18  Asa then took all the silver and gold remaining in the treasuries of the temple of the LORD and of the royal palace. Entrusting them to his ministers, King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion, king of Aram, resident in Damascus. He said:
 1kgs:15.19  "There is a treaty between you and me, as there was between your father and my father. I am sending you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me."
 1kgs:15.20  Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the leaders of his troops against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinnereth, besides all the land of Naphtali.
 1kgs:15.21  When Baasha heard of it, he left off fortifying Ramah, and stayed in Tirzah.
 1kgs:15.22  Then King Asa summoned all Judah without exception, and they carried away the stones and beams with which Baasha was fortifying Ramah. With them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpeh.
 1kgs:15.23  The rest of the acts of Asa, with all his valor and accomplishments, and the cities he built, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. In his old age, Asa had an infirmity in his feet.
 1kgs:15.24  He rested with his ancestors; he was buried in his forefather's City of David, and his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.
 1kgs:15.25  In the second year of Asa, king of Judah, Nadab, son of Jeroboam, became king of Israel; he reigned over Israel two years.
 1kgs:15.26  He did evil in the LORD'S sight, imitating his father's conduct and the sin which he had caused Israel to commit.
 1kgs:15.27  Baasha, son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, plotted against him and struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines, which Nadab and all Israel were besieging.
 1kgs:15.28  Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
 1kgs:15.29  Once he was king, he killed off the entire house of Jeroboam, not leaving a single soul to Jeroboam but destroying him utterly, according to the warning which the LORD had pronounced through his servant, Ahijah the Shilonite,
 1kgs:15.30  because of the sins Jeroboam committed and caused Israel to commit, by which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.
 1kgs:15.31  The rest of the acts of Nadab, with all that he did, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
 1kgs:15.32  (There was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, as long as they lived.)
 1kgs:15.33  In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, son of Ahijah, began his twenty-four-year reign over Israel in Tirzah.
 1kgs:15.34  He did evil in the LORD'S sight, imitating the conduct of Jeroboam and the sin he had caused Israel to commit.
    
 1kgs:16.1   The LORD spoke against Baasha to Jehu, son of Hanani, and said:
 1kgs:16.2   "Inasmuch as I lifted you up from the dust and made you ruler of my people Israel, but you have imitated the conduct of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger by their sins,
 1kgs:16.3   I will destroy you, Baasha, and your house;
 1kgs:16.4   I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. If anyone of Baasha's line dies in the city, dogs shall devour him; if he dies in the field, he shall be devoured by the birds of the sky."
 1kgs:16.5   The rest of the acts of Baasha, with all his valor and accomplishments, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
 1kgs:16.6   Baasha rested with his ancestors; he was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him as king.
 1kgs:16.7   (Through the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, the LORD had threatened Baasha and his house, because of all the evil Baasha did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger by his evil deeds, so that he became like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed Nadab.)
 1kgs:16.8   In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, king of Judah, Elah, son of Baasha, began his two-year reign over Israel in Tirzah.
 1kgs:16.9   His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, plotted against him. As he was in Tirzah, drinking to excess in the house of Arza, superintendent of his palace in Tirzah,
 1kgs:16.10  Zimri entered; he struck and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
 1kgs:16.11  Once he was seated on the royal throne, he killed off the whole house of Baasha, not sparing a single male relative or friend of his.
 1kgs:16.12  Zimri destroyed the entire house of Baasha, as the LORD had prophesied to Baasha through the prophet Jehu,
 1kgs:16.13  because of all the sins which Baasha and his son Elah committed and caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.
 1kgs:16.14  The rest of the acts of Elah, with all that he did, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
 1kgs:16.15  In the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. The army was besieging Gibbethon of the Philistines
 1kgs:16.16  when they heard that Zimri had formed a conspiracy and had killed the king. So that day in the camp all Israel proclaimed Omri, general of the army, king of Israel.
 1kgs:16.17  Omri marched up from Gibbethon, accompanied by all Israel, and laid siege to Tirzah.
 1kgs:16.18  When Zimri saw the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the royal palace and burned down the palace over him. He died
 1kgs:16.19  because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD by imitating the sinful conduct of Jeroboam, thus causing Israel to sin.
 1kgs:16.20  The rest of the acts of Zimri, with the conspiracy he carried out, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
 1kgs:16.21  At that time the people of Israel were divided, half following Tibni, son of Ginath, to make him king, and half for Omri.
 1kgs:16.22  The partisans of Omri prevailed over those of Tibni, son of Ginath. Tibni died and Omri became king.
 1kgs:16.23  In the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri became king; he reigned over Israel twelve years, the first six of them in Tirzah.
 1kgs:16.24  He then bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two silver talents and built upon the hill, naming the city he built Samaria after Shemer, the former owner.
 1kgs:16.25  But Omri did evil in the LORD'S sight beyond any of his predecessors.
 1kgs:16.26  He closely imitated the sinful conduct of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, causing Israel to sin and to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.
 1kgs:16.27  The rest of the acts of Omri, with all his valor and accomplishments, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
 1kgs:16.28  Omri rested with his ancestors; he was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab succeeded him as king.
 1kgs:16.29  In the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah, Ahab, son of Omri, became king of Israel; he reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years.
 1kgs:16.30  Ahab, son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the LORD more than any of his predecessors.
 1kgs:16.31  It was not enough for him to imitate the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went over to the veneration and worship of Baal.
 1kgs:16.32  Ahab erected an altar to Baal in the temple of Baal which he built in Samaria,
 1kgs:16.33  and also made a sacred pole. He did more to anger the LORD, the God of Israel, than any of the kings of Israel before him.
 1kgs:16.34  During his reign, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He lost his first-born son, Abiram, when he laid the foundation, and his youngest son, Segub, when he set up the gates, as the LORD had foretold through Joshua, son of Nun.
    
 1kgs:17.1   Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word."
 1kgs:17.2   The LORD then said to Elijah:
 1kgs:17.3   "Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.
 1kgs:17.4   You shall drink of the stream, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there."
 1kgs:17.5   So he left and did as the LORD had commanded. He went and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.
 1kgs:17.6   Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the stream.
 1kgs:17.7   After some time, however, the brook ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land.
 1kgs:17.8   So the LORD said to him:
 1kgs:17.9   "Move on to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have designated a widow there to provide for you."
 1kgs:17.10  He left and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, "Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink."
 1kgs:17.11  She left to get it, and he called out after her, "Please bring along a bit of bread."
 1kgs:17.12  "As the LORD, your God, lives," she answered, "I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die."
 1kgs:17.13  "Do not be afraid," Elijah said to her. "Go and do as you propose. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son.
 1kgs:17.14  For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'"
 1kgs:17.15  She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well;
 1kgs:17.16  The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.
 1kgs:17.17  Some time later the son of the mistress of the house fell sick, and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing.
 1kgs:17.18  So she said to Elijah, "Why have you done this to me, O man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?"
 1kgs:17.19  "Give me your son," Elijah said to her. Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
 1kgs:17.20  He called out to the LORD: "O LORD, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?"
 1kgs:17.21  Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and called out to the LORD: "O LORD, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child."
 1kgs:17.22  The LORD heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child's body and he revived.
 1kgs:17.23  Taking the child, Elijah brought him down into the house from the upper room and gave him to his mother. "See!" Elijah said to her, "your son is alive."
 1kgs:17.24  "Now indeed I know that you you are a man of God," the woman replied to Elijah. "The word of the LORD comes truly from your mouth."
    
 1kgs:18.1   Long afterward, in the third year, the LORD spoke to Elijah, "Go, present yourself to Ahab," he said, "that I may send rain upon the earth."
 1kgs:18.2   So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
 1kgs:18.3   Now the famine in Samaria was bitter,
 1kgs:18.4   and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his vizier, who was a zealous follower of the LORD. When Jezebel was murdering the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them away fifty each in two caves, and supplied them with food and drink.
 1kgs:18.5   Ahab said to Obadiah, "Come, let us go through the land to all sources of water and to all the streams. We may find grass and save the horses and mules, so that we shall not have to slaughter any of the beasts."
 1kgs:18.6   Dividing the land to explore between them, Ahab went one way by himself, Obadiah another way by himself.
 1kgs:18.7   As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Recognizing him, Obadiah fell prostrate and asked, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?"
 1kgs:18.8   "Yes," he answered. "Go tell your master, 'Elijah is here!'"
 1kgs:18.9   But Obadiah said, "What sin have I committed, that you are handing me over to Ahab to have me killed?
 1kgs:18.10  As the LORD, your God, lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent in search of you. When they replied, 'He is not here,' he made each kingdom and nation swear they could not find you.
 1kgs:18.11  And now you say, 'Go tell your master: Elijah is here!'
 1kgs:18.12  After I leave you, the spirit of the LORD will carry you to some place I do not know, and when I go to inform Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. Your servant has revered the LORD from his youth.
 1kgs:18.13  Have you not been told, my lord, what I did when Jezebel was murdering the prophets of the LORD--that I hid a hundred of the prophets of the LORD, fifty each in two caves, and supplied them with food and drink?
 1kgs:18.14  And now you say, 'Go tell your master: Elijah is here!' He will kill me!"
 1kgs:18.15  Elijah answered, "As the LORD of hosts lives, whom I serve, I will present myself to him today."
 1kgs:18.16  So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him. Ahab came to meet Elijah,
 1kgs:18.17  and when he saw Elijah, said to him, "Is it you, you disturber of Israel?"
 1kgs:18.18  "It is not I who disturb Israel," he answered, "but you and your family, by forsaking the commands of the LORD and following the Baals.
 1kgs:18.19  Now summon all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, as well as the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table."
 1kgs:18.20  So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and had the prophets assemble on Mount Carmel.
 1kgs:18.21  Elijah appealed to all the people and said, "How long will you straddle the issue? If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him." The people, however, did not answer him.
 1kgs:18.22  So Elijah said to the people, "I am the only surviving prophet of the LORD, and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.
 1kgs:18.23  Give us two young bulls. Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood, but start no fire. I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood, but shall start no fire.
 1kgs:18.24  You shall call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The God who answers with fire is God." All the people answered, "Agreed!"
 1kgs:18.25  Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one young bull and prepare it first, for there are more of you. Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire."
 1kgs:18.26  Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they prepared it and called on Baal from morning to noon, saying, "Answer us, Baal!" But there was no sound, and no one answering. And they hopped around the altar they had prepared.
 1kgs:18.27  When it was noon, Elijah taunted them: "Call louder, for he is a god and may be meditating, or may have retired, or may be on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."
 1kgs:18.28  They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until blood gushed over them.
 1kgs:18.29  Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state until the time for offering sacrifice. But there was not a sound; no one answered, and no one was listening.
 1kgs:18.30  Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." When they had done so, he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been destroyed.
 1kgs:18.31  He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the LORD had said, "Your name shall be Israel."
 1kgs:18.32  He built an altar in honor of the LORD with the stones, and made a trench around the altar large enough for two seahs of grain.
 1kgs:18.33  When he had arranged the wood, he cut up the young bull and laid it on the wood.
 1kgs:18.34  "Fill four jars with water," he said, "and pour it over the holocaust and over the wood." "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he said, and they did it a third time.
 1kgs:18.35  The water flowed around the altar, and the trench was filled with the water.
 1kgs:18.36  At the time for offering sacrifice, the prophet Elijah came forward and said, "LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things by your command.
 1kgs:18.37  Answer me, LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to their senses."
 1kgs:18.38  The LORD'S fire came down and consumed the holocaust, wood, stones, and dust, and it lapped up the water in the trench.
 1kgs:18.39  Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"
 1kgs:18.40  Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Let none of them escape!" They were seized, and Elijah had them brought down to the brook Kishon and there he slit their throats.
 1kgs:18.41  Elijah then said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
 1kgs:18.42  So Ahab went up to eat and drink, while Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, crouched down to the earth, and put his head between his knees.
 1kgs:18.43  "Climb up and look out to sea," he directed his servant, who went up and looked, but reported, "There is nothing." Seven times he said, "Go look again!"
 1kgs:18.44  And the seventh time the youth reported, "There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising from the sea." Elijah said, "Go and say to Ahab, 'Harness up and leave the mountain before the rain stops you.'"
 1kgs:18.45  In a trice, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell. Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel.
 1kgs:18.46  But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, who girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab as far as the approaches to Jezreel.
    
 1kgs:19.1   Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done--that he had put all the prophets to the sword.
 1kgs:19.2   Jezebel then sent a messenger to Elijah and said, "May the gods do thus and so to me if by this time tomorrow I have not done with your life what was done to each of them."
 1kgs:19.3   Elijah was afraid and fled for his life, going to Beer-sheba of Judah. He left his servant there
 1kgs:19.4   and went a day's journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death: "This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."
 1kgs:19.5   He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
 1kgs:19.6   He looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
 1kgs:19.7   but the angel of the LORD came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, "Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"
 1kgs:19.8   He got up, ate and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
 1kgs:19.9   There he came to a cave, where he took shelter. But the word of the LORD came to him, "Why are you here, Elijah?"
 1kgs:19.10  He answered: "I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life."
 1kgs:19.11  Then the LORD said, "Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by." A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD--but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake--but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
 1kgs:19.12  After the earthquake there was fire--but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
 1kgs:19.13  When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, "Elijah, why are you here?"
 1kgs:19.14  He replied, "I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. But the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life."
 1kgs:19.15  "Go, take the road back to the desert near Damascus," the LORD said to him. "When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king of Aram.
 1kgs:19.16  Then you shall anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel, and Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, as prophet to succeed you.
 1kgs:19.17  If anyone escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill him. If he escapes the sword if Jehu, Elisha will kill him.
 1kgs:19.18  Yet I will leave seven thousand men in Israel--all those who have not knelt to Baal or kissed him."
 1kgs:19.19  Elijah set out, and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen; he was following the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.
 1kgs:19.20  Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Please, let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and I will follow you." "Go back!" Elijah answered. "Have I done anything to you?"
 1kgs:19.21  Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh, and gave it to his people to eat. Then he left and followed Elijah as his attendant.
    
 1kgs:20.1   Ben-hadad, king of Aram, gathered all his forces, and accompanied by thirty-two kings with horses and chariotry, proceeded to invest and attack Samaria.
 1kgs:20.2   He sent couriers to Ahab, king of Israel, within the city,
 1kgs:20.3   and said to him, "This is Ben-hadad's message: 'Your silver and gold are mine, and your wives and your promising sons are mine.'"
 1kgs:20.4   The king of Israel answered, "As you say, my lord king, I and all I have are yours."
 1kgs:20.5   But the couriers came again and said, "This is Ben-hadad's message: 'I sent you word to give me your silver and gold, your wives and your sons.
 1kgs:20.6   Now, however, at this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they shall ransack your house and the houses of your servants. They shall seize and take away whatever they consider valuable.'"
 1kgs:20.7   The king of Israel then summoned all the elders of the land and said: "Understand clearly that this man wants to ruin us. When he sent to me for my wives and sons, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him."
 1kgs:20.8   All the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen. Do not give in."
 1kgs:20.9   Accordingly he directed the couriers of Ben-hadad, "Say to my lord the king, 'I will do all that you demanded of your servant the first time. But this I cannot do.'" The couriers left and reported this.
 1kgs:20.10  Ben-hadad then sent him the message, "May the gods do thus and so to me if there is enough dust in Samaria to make handfuls for all my followers."
 1kgs:20.11  The king of Israel replied, "Tell him, 'It is not for the man who is buckling his armor to boast as though he were taking it off.'"
 1kgs:20.12  Ben-hadad was drinking in the pavilions with the kings when he heard this reply. "Prepare the assault," he commanded his servants; and they made ready to storm the city.
 1kgs:20.13  Then a prophet came up to Ahab, king of Israel and said: "The LORD says, 'Do you see all this huge army? When I deliver it up to you today, you will know that I am the LORD.'"
 1kgs:20.14  But Ahab asked, "Through whom will it be delivered up?" He answered, "The LORD says, 'Through the retainers of the governors of the provinces.'" Then Ahab asked, "Who is to attack?" He replied, "You are."
 1kgs:20.15  So Ahab called up the retainers of the governors of the provinces, two hundred thirty-two of them. Behind them he mustered all the Israelite soldiery, who numbered seven thousand.
 1kgs:20.16  They marched out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking heavily in the pavilions with the thirty-two kings who were his allies.
 1kgs:20.17  When the retainers of the governors of the provinces marched out first, Ben-hadad received word that some men had marched out of Samaria.
 1kgs:20.18  He answered, "Whether they have come out for peace or for war, in any case take them alive."
 1kgs:20.19  But when these had come out of the city-the soldiers of the governors of the provinces with the army following them--
 1kgs:20.20  each of them struck down his man. The Arameans fled with Israel pursuing them, while Ben-hadad, king of Aram, escaped on a chariot steed.
 1kgs:20.21  The king of Israel went out, took the horses and chariots, and inflicted a severe defeat on Aram.
 1kgs:20.22  Then the prophet went up to the king of Israel and said to him: "Go, regroup your forces. Mark well what you do, for at the beginning of the year the king of Aram will attack you."
 1kgs:20.23  On the other hand, the servants of the king of Aram said to him: "Their gods are gods of mountains. That is why they defeated us. But if we fight them on level ground, we shall be sure to defeat them.
 1kgs:20.24  This is what you must do: Take the kings from their posts and put prefects in their places.
 1kgs:20.25  Mobilize an army as large as the army that has deserted you, horse for horse, chariot for chariot. Let us fight them on level ground, and we shall surely defeat them." He took their advice and did this.
 1kgs:20.26  At the beginning of the year, Ben-hadad mobilized Aram and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
 1kgs:20.27  The Israelites, too, were called to arms and supplied with provisions; then they went out to engage the foe. The Israelites, encamped opposite them, seemed like a couple of small flocks of goats, while Aram covered the countryside.
 1kgs:20.28  A man of God came up and said to the king of Israel: "The LORD says, 'Because Aram has said the LORD is a god of mountains, not a god of plains, I will deliver up to you all this large army, that you may know I am the LORD.'"
 1kgs:20.29  They were encamped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day battle was joined, and the Israelites struck down one hundred thousand foot soldiers of Aram in one day.
 1kgs:20.30  The survivors, twenty-seven thousand of them, fled into the city of Aphek, and there the wall collapsed. Ben-hadad, too, fled, and took refuge within the city, in an inside room.
 1kgs:20.31  His servants said to him: "We have heard that the kings of the land of Israel are merciful kings. Allow us, therefore, to garb ourselves in sackcloth, with cords around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life."
 1kgs:20.32  So they dressed in sackcloth girded at the waist, and wearing cords around their heads, they went to the king of Israel. "Your servant Ben-hadad pleads for his life," they said. "Is he still alive?" the king asked. "He is my brother."
 1kgs:20.33  Hearing this as a good omen, the men quickly took him at his word and said, "Ben-hadad is your brother." He answered, "Go and get him." When Ben-hadad came out to him, the king had him mount his chariot.
 1kgs:20.34  Ben-hadad said to him, "I will restore the cities which my father took from your father, and you may make yourself bazaars in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." "On these terms," Ahab replied, "I will set you free." So he made an agreement with him and then set him free.
 1kgs:20.35  One of the guild prophets was prompted by the LORD to say to his companion, "Strike me." But he refused to strike him.
 1kgs:20.36  Then he said to him, "Since you did not obey the voice of the LORD, a lion will kill you when you leave me." When they parted company, a lion came upon him and killed him.
 1kgs:20.37  The prophet met another man and said, "Strike me." The man struck him a blow and wounded him.
 1kgs:20.38  The prophet went on and waited for the king on the road, having disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.
 1kgs:20.39  As the king was passing, he called out to the king and said: "Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and suddenly someone turned and brought me a man and said, 'Guard this man. If he is missing, you shall have to pay for his life with your life or pay out a talent of silver.'
 1kgs:20.40  But while your servant was looking here and there, the man disappeared." The king of Israel said to him, "That is your sentence. You have decided it yourself."
 1kgs:20.41  He immediately removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.
 1kgs:20.42  He said to him: "The LORD says, 'Because you have set free the man I doomed to destruction, your life shall pay for his life, your people for his people.'"
 1kgs:20.43  Disturbed and angry, the king of Israel went off homeward and entered Samaria.
    
 1kgs:21.1   Some time after this, as Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria,
 1kgs:21.2   Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it is close by, next to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money."
 1kgs:21.3   "The LORD forbid," Naboth answered him, "that I should give you my ancestral heritage."
 1kgs:21.4   Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him: "I will not give you my ancestral heritage." Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and would not eat.
 1kgs:21.5   His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, "Why are you so angry that you will not eat?"
 1kgs:21.6   He answered her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Sell me your vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.' But he refused to let me have his vineyard."
 1kgs:21.7   "A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!" his wife Jezebel said to him. "Get up. Eat and be cheerful. I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you."
 1kgs:21.8   So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and, having sealed them with his seal, sent them to the elders and to the nobles who lived in the same city with Naboth.
 1kgs:21.9   This is what she wrote in the letters: "Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
 1kgs:21.10  Next, get two scoundrels to face him and accuse him of having cursed God and king. Then take him out and stone him to death."
 1kgs:21.11  His fellow citizens--the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city--did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing, through the letters she had sent them.
 1kgs:21.12  They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people.
 1kgs:21.13  Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation, "Naboth has cursed God and king." And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death.
 1kgs:21.14  Then they sent the information to Jezebel that Naboth had been stoned to death.
 1kgs:21.15  When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Go on, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to sell you, because Naboth is not alive, but dead."
 1kgs:21.16  On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
 1kgs:21.17  But the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite:
 1kgs:21.18  "Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be in the vineyard of Naboth, of which he has come to take possession.
 1kgs:21.19  This is what you shall tell him, 'The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession? For this, the LORD says: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.'"
 1kgs:21.20  "Have you found me out, my enemy?" Ahab said to Elijah. "Yes," he answered. "Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD'S sight,
 1kgs:21.21  I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you and will cut off every male in Ahab's line, whether slave or freeman, in Israel.
 1kgs:21.22  I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah, because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin."
 1kgs:21.23  (Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared, "The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.")
 1kgs:21.24  "When one of Ahab's line dies in the city, dogs will devour him; when one of them dies in the field, the birds of the sky will devour him."
 1kgs:21.25  Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab, urged on by his wife Jezebel.
 1kgs:21.26  He became completely abominable by following idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD drove out before the Israelites.
 1kgs:21.27  When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.
 1kgs:21.28  Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
 1kgs:21.29  "Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."

 1kgs:22.1   Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel.
 1kgs:22.2   In the third year, however, King Jehoshaphat of Judah came down to the king of Israel,
 1kgs:22.3   who said to his servants, "Do you not know that Ramoth-gilead is ours and we are doing nothing to take it from the king of Aram?"
 1kgs:22.4   He asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you come with me to fight against Ramoth-gilead?" Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, "You and I are as one, and your people and my people, your horses and my horses as well."
 1kgs:22.5   Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "Seek the word of the LORD at once."
 1kgs:22.6   The king of Israel gathered together the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked, "Shall I go to attack Ramoth-gilead or shall I refrain?" "Go up," they answered. "The LORD will deliver it over to the king."
 1kgs:22.7   But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no other prophet of the LORD here whom we may consult?"
 1kgs:22.8   The king of Israel answered, "There is one other through whom we might consult the LORD, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I hate him because he prophesies not good but evil about me." Jehoshaphat said, "Let not your majesty speak of evil against you."
 1kgs:22.9   So the king of Israel called an official and said to him, "Get Micaiah, son of Imlah, at once."
 1kgs:22.10  The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were seated, each on his throne, clothed in their robes of state on a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
 1kgs:22.11  Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, "The LORD says, 'With these you shall gore Aram until you have destroyed them.'"
 1kgs:22.12  The other prophets prophesied in a similar vein, saying: "Go up to Ramoth-gilead; you shall succeed. The LORD will deliver it over to the king."
 1kgs:22.13  The messenger who had gone to call Micaiah said to him, "Look now, the prophets are unanimously predicting good for the king. Let your word be the same as any of theirs; predict good."
 1kgs:22.14  "As the LORD lives," Micaiah answered, "I shall say whatever the LORD tells me."
 1kgs:22.15  When he came to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to fight against Ramoth-gilead, or shall we refrain?" "Go up," he answered, "you shall succeed! The LORD will deliver it over to the king."
 1kgs:22.16  But the king answered him, "How many times must I adjure you to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"
 1kgs:22.17  So Micaiah said: "I see all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD saying, 'These have no master! Let each of them go back home in peace.'"
 1kgs:22.18  The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you he prophesies not good but evil about me?"
 1kgs:22.19  Micaiah continued: "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD seated on his throne, with the whole host of heaven standing by to his right and to his left.
 1kgs:22.20  The LORD asked, 'Who will deceive Ahab, so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this, another that,
 1kgs:22.21  until one of the spirits came forth and presented himself to the LORD, saying, 'I will deceive him.' The LORD asked, 'How?'
 1kgs:22.22  He answered, 'I will go forth and become a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' The LORD replied, 'You shall succeed in deceiving him. Go forth and do this.'
 1kgs:22.23  So now, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, but the LORD himself has decreed evil against you."
 1kgs:22.24  Thereupon Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, came up and slapped Micaiah on the cheek, saying, "Has the spirit of the LORD, then, left me to speak with you?"
 1kgs:22.25  "You shall find out," Micaiah replied, "on that day when you retreat into an inside room to hide."
 1kgs:22.26  The king of Israel then said, "Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon, prefect of the city, and to Joash, the king's son,
 1kgs:22.27  and say, 'This is the king's order: Put this man in prison and feed him scanty rations of bread and water until I return in safety.'"
 1kgs:22.28  But Micaiah said, "If ever you return in safety, the LORD has not spoken through me."
 1kgs:22.29  The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead,
 1kgs:22.30  and the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your own clothes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and entered the fray.
 1kgs:22.31  In the meantime the king of Aram had given his thirty-two chariot commanders the order, "Do not fight with anyone at all except the king of Israel."
 1kgs:22.32  When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they cried out, "That must be the king of Israel!" and shifted to fight him. But Jehoshaphat shouted his battle cry,
 1kgs:22.33  and the chariot commanders, aware that he was not the king of Israel, gave up pursuit of him.
 1kgs:22.34  Someone, however, drew his bow at random, and hit the king of Israel between the joints of his breastplate. He ordered his charioteer, "Rein about and take me out of the ranks, for I am disabled."
 1kgs:22.35  The battle grew fierce during the day, and the king, who was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans, died in the evening. The blood from his wound flowed to the bottom of the chariot.
 1kgs:22.36  At sunset a cry went through the army, "Every man to his city, every man to his land,
 1kgs:22.37  for the king is dead!" So they went to Samaria, where they buried the king.
 1kgs:22.38  When the chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood and harlots bathed there, as the LORD had prophesied.
 1kgs:22.39  The rest of the acts of Ahab, with all that he did, including the ivory palace and all the cities he built, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
 1kgs:22.40  Ahab rested with his ancestors, and his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
 1kgs:22.41  Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel.
 1kgs:22.42  Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.
 1kgs:22.43  He followed all the ways of his father Asa unswervingly, doing what was right in the LORD'S sight.
 1kgs:22.44  Nevertheless, the high places did not disappear, and the people continued to sacrifice and to burn incense on the high places.
 1kgs:22.45  Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
 1kgs:22.46  The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, with his prowess, what he did and how he fought, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.
 1kgs:22.47  He removed from the land the rest of the cult prostitutes who had remained in the reign of his father Asa.
 1kgs:22.48  There was no king in Edom, but an appointed regent.
 1kgs:22.49  Jehoshaphat made Tarshish ships to go to Ophir for gold; but in fact the ships did not go, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
 1kgs:22.50  Then Ahaziah, son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants accompany your servants in the ships." But Jehoshaphat would not agree.
 1kgs:22.51  Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors; he was buried in his forefathers' City of David. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king.
 1kgs:22.52  Ahaziah, son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah; he reigned two years over Israel.
 1kgs:22.53  He did evil in the sight of the LORD, behaving like his father, his mother, and Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
 1kgs:22.54  He served and worshiped Baal, thus provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, just as his father had done. [end of 1 Kings]

