2 Chronicles 1-24

New American Standard Bible

Solomon Worships at Gibeon

1 Now ^(A)Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and ^(B)exalted him greatly.

² And Solomon spoke to all Israel, ^(C)to the commanders of thousands, of hundreds, and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. ³ Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to ^(D)the high place which was at Gibeon, ^(E)because God’s tent of meeting was there which Moses, the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness. ⁴ However, David had brought up ^(F)the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim ^[a]to ^(G)the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵ Now ^(H)the bronze altar which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. ⁶ And Solomon went up there before the Lord to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and ^(I)offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

^7 (J)In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

⁸ And Solomon said to God, “You have dealt with my father David with great faithfulness, and ^(K)have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, ^(L)Your ^[b]promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over ^(M)a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. ^10 (N)Now give me wisdom and knowledge, ^(O)so that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?” ^11 (P)Then God said to Solomon, “Because this was ^[c]in your heart, and you did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor did you even ask for long life, but you asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge so that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king, ¹² wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. ^(Q)I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor, ^[d]such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed, nor will those who will ^[e]come after you.” ^13 (R)So Solomon went ^[f]from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

Solomon’s Wealth

^14 (S)Solomon amassed chariots and horsemen. ^(T)He had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in ^(U)the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^15 (V)The king made ^(W)silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamores in the ^[g]lowland. ¹⁶ Solomon’s ^(X)horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s traders acquired them from Kue for a price. ¹⁷ They ^[h]imported chariots from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver apiece, horses for 150 apiece, and ^[i]by the same means they ^[j]exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Solomon Will Build a Temple and a Palace

2 ^[k](Y)Now Solomon ^[l]decided to build a house for the name of the Lord, and a ^[m]royal palace for himself. ^2 [n]So ^(Z)Solomon ^[o]assigned seventy thousand men to carry loads, eighty thousand men to quarry stone in the mountains, and 3,600 to supervise them.

^3 (AA)Then Solomon sent word to ^[p]Huram the king of Tyre, saying, “^(AB)As you dealt with my father David and sent him cedars to build him a house to live in, do it for me. ⁴ Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, dedicating it to Him, ^(AC)to burn fragrant incense before Him and to set out ^(AD)the showbread continually, and to offer ^(AE)burnt offerings morning and evening, ^(AF)on Sabbaths, on new moons, and on the appointed feasts of the Lord our God. This is to be done in Israel forever. ⁵ The house which I am about to build will be great, for our God is ^(AG)greater than all the gods. ⁶ But ^(AH)who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? And who am I, that I should build a house for Him, except to ^[q]burn incense before Him? ⁷ Now ^(AI)send me a skilled man to work in gold, silver, brass, iron, and in purple, crimson, and violet fabrics, one who knows how to make engravings, to work with the skilled workers ^[r](AJ)whom I have in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided. ^8 (AK)Send me also cedar, juniper, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber of Lebanon; and indeed ^(AL)my servants will work with your servants, ⁹ to prepare timber in abundance for me, for the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful. ¹⁰ Now behold, ^(AM)I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, ^[s]twenty thousand kors of crushed wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, ^[t]twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.”

Huram to Assist

¹¹ Then Huram, king of Tyre, ^[u]answered in a letter sent to Solomon: “^(AN)Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.” ¹² Then Huram ^[v]continued, “Blessed be ^(AO)the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, ^[w]endowed with discretion and understanding, ^(AP)who will build a house for the Lord and a ^[x]royal palace for himself.

¹³ “Now then, I am sending Huram-abi, a skilled man, ^[y]endowed with understanding, ^14 (AQ)the son of a ^[z]Danite woman and ^[aa]a Tyrian father, who knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, violet, linen, and crimson fabrics, and who knows how to make all kinds of engravings and to ^[ab]execute any design which is assigned to him, to work with your skilled workers and with ^[ac]those of my lord, your father David. ¹⁵ Now then, let my lord send his servants wheat and barley, oil and wine, of ^(AR)which he has spoken. ^16 (AS)We will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you as rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may carry it up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷ Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, ^(AT)following the ^[ad]census which his father David had ^[ae]taken; and 153,600 were found. ^18 (AU)He appointed seventy thousand of them to carry loads and eighty thousand to quarry stones in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.

The Temple Construction in Jerusalem

3 ^(AV)Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared ^(AW)on the threshing floor of ^[af]Ornan the Jebusite. ² He began to build on the second day in the second month ^[ag]of the fourth year of his reign.

Dimensions and Materials of the Temple

³ Now these are the ^[ah]foundations which ^(AX)Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard, was ^[ai]sixty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits. ⁴ The porch which was in front of the house ^(AY)was as long as the width of the house, ^[aj]twenty cubits, and the height ^[ak]twenty; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold. ⁵ He overlaid ^(AZ)the ^[al]main room with juniper wood and overlaid it with fine gold; and he ^[am]ornamented it with palm trees and chains. ⁶ Further, he overlaid the house ^[an]with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim. ^7 (BA)He also overlaid the house with gold—the beams, the thresholds, and its walls and doors; and he ^(BB)carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ Then he made ^(BC)the ^[ao]room of the Most Holy Place: its length across the width of the house was ^[ap]twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to ^[aq]six hundred talents. ⁹ The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid ^(BD)the upper rooms with gold.

^10 (BE)Then he made two ^[ar]sculptured cherubim in the room of the Most Holy Place and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The wingspan of the ^[as]cherubim was twenty ^[at]cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub. ¹² The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing, of five cubits, was attached to the wing of the ^[au]first cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet ^[av]facing the main room. ^14 (BF)He made the veil of violet, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and he worked cherubim into it.

^15 (BG)He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits ^[aw]high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits. ¹⁶ He made chains in the inner sanctuary and placed them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates and placed them on the chains. ^17 (BH)He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.

Furnishings of the Temple

4 Then ^(BI)he made a bronze altar, ^[ax]twenty cubits in length, ^[ay]twenty cubits in width, and ^[az]ten cubits in height. ^2 (BJ)He also made the ^[ba]Sea of cast metal, ^[bb]ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was ^[bc]five cubits and ^[bd]its circumference ^[be]thirty cubits. ³ Now figures like oxen were under it and all around it, ^[bf]ten cubits, entirely encircling the Sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast ^[bg]in one piece. ⁴ It was standing on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inward. ⁵ It was a ^[bh]hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it ^(BK)could hold three thousand ^[bi]baths. ^6 (BL)He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left ^[bj]to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷ Then ^(BM)he made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them, and he set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ⁸ He also made ^(BN)ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made a hundred golden bowls. ⁹ Then he made ^(BO)the courtyard of the priests and ^(BP)the great courtyard, and doors for the courtyard, and overlaid their doors with bronze. ^10 (BQ)He put the Sea on the right side of the house toward the southeast.

^11 (BR)Huram also made the pails, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God: ¹² the two pillars, the bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars, ¹³ and ^(BS)the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars. ^14 (BT)He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands, ¹⁵ and the one Sea with the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ The pails, the shovels, the forks, and all its utensils, ^(BU)Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon, for the house of the Lord. ¹⁷ On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ^18 (BV)So Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, ^(BW)the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, ²⁰ the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, ^(BX)to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed; ²¹ the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, that is, of purest gold; ²² and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the Most Holy Place and the doors of the house, that is, of the main room, of gold.

The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 ^(BY)So all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^[bk](BZ)things that his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and all the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

^2 (CA)Then Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, ^(CB)to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, which is Zion. ^3 (CC)All the men of Israel assembled themselves before the king at ^(CD)the feast, that is in the seventh month. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(CE)the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵ They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the tent. The Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled with him before the ark were sacrificing ^[bl]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its ^[bm]poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that ^(CF)the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ^[bn]they are there to this day. ^10 (CG)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came out from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^(CH)to divisions), ¹² and all the Levitical singers, ^(CI)Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, ^(CJ)with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests ^(CK)blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they raised their voices ^(CL)accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, and when they praised the Lord saying, “^(CM)He indeed is good for His ^[bo]kindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not rise to minister because of the cloud, for ^(CN)the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple

6 ^(CO)Then Solomon said,

³ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ⁴ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, so that My name might be there, nor did I choose a man to be the leader over My people Israel; ⁶ but ^(CP)I have chosen Jerusalem so that My name might be there, and I ^(CQ)have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ^7 (CR)Now it was ^[bp]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[bq]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[br]in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ^[bs]will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.’ ¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord ^[bt]promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have placed the ark ^(CS)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

¹² Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ^13 (CT)For Solomon had made a bronze platform, ^[bu]five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, ^(CU)knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ¹⁴ He said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^(CV)there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, ^(CW)keeping ^[bv]Your covenant and ^[bw]Your faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; ^15 (CX)You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You ^[bx]promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Now then, Lord, God of Israel, keep to Your servant David, my father, that which You ^[by]promised him, saying, ‘^[bz](CY)You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay attention to their way, to walk in My Law as you have walked before Me.’ ¹⁷ Now then, Lord, God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

¹⁸ “But ^(CZ)will God really dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, ^(DA)heaven and the ^[ca]highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! ¹⁹ Nevertheless, turn Your attention to the prayer of Your servant and to his plea, Lord, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You; ²⁰ that Your ^(DB)eye will be open toward this house day and night, toward ^(DC)the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. ²¹ Listen to the pleadings of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; ^(DD)hear and forgive.

²² “If someone sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and take action and judge Your servants, ^[cb](DE)punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by ^[cc]repaying him according to his righteousness.

²⁴ “If Your people Israel are ^[cd]defeated before an enemy because ^(DF)they have sinned against You, and they return to You and praise Your name, and pray and plead before You in this house, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.

²⁶ “When the ^(DG)heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel; indeed, ^(DH)teach them the good way in which they are to walk. And provide rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

²⁸ “If there is a ^(DI)famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their ^[ce]cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, ²⁹ whatever prayer or plea is made by anyone or by all Your people Israel, ^[cf]each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know—^(DJ)for You alone know the hearts of the sons of mankind— ³¹ so that they may ^[cg]fear You, to walk in Your ways ^[ch]as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

³² “Also concerning ^(DK)the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country on account of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house, ³³ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and ^[ci]fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that ^[cj]this house which I have built is ^(DL)called by Your name.

³⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their cause.

³⁶ “When they sin against You (^(DM)for there is no one who does not sin), and You are angry with them and turn them over to an enemy, so that ^[ck]they take them away captive to a land far off or near, ³⁷ if they ^[cl]take it to heart in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and plead to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and have acted wickedly’; ^38 (DN)if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and pleadings, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

⁴⁰ “Now, my God, please, ^(DO)let Your eyes be open and ^(DP)Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

⁴¹ “^(DQ)Now then arise, Lord God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

⁴² “Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; ^(DR)remember Your faithfulness to Your servant David.”

The Shekinah Glory

7 ^(DS)Now when Solomon had finished praying, ^(DT)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. ^2 (DU)And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. ³ All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, “^(DV)Certainly He is good, certainly His faithfulness is everlasting.”

Sacrifices Offered

^4 (DW)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ⁶ The priests stood at their posts, and ^(DX)the Levites also, with the musical instruments for the Lord, which King David had made for giving praise to the Lord—“for His faithfulness is everlasting”—whenever David gave praise through their ^[cm]ministry; ^(DY)the priests on the other side blew trumpets and all Israel was standing.

^7 (DZ)Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was before the house of the Lord, for he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat.

The Feast of Dedication

⁸ So ^(EA)Solomon held the feast at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly that came from the entrance of Hamath to the ^(EB)brook of Egypt. ⁹ And on the eighth day they held ^(EC)a solemn assembly, because they held the dedication of the altar for seven days, and the feast for seven days. ¹⁰ Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and happy in heart because of the goodness that the Lord had shown to David, to Solomon, and to His people Israel.

God’s Promise and Warning

^11 (ED)So Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s palace, and successfully completed everything that ^[cn]he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace.

¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and ^(EE)have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ^13 (EF)If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, ^14 (EG)and My people ^[co]who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ^15 (EH)Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the ^[cp]prayer offered in this place. ¹⁶ For ^(EI)now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there ^[cq]always. ¹⁷ As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, to do according to everything that I have commanded you, and keep My statutes and My ordinances, ¹⁸ then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘^[cr](EJ)You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’

¹⁹ “^(EK)But if you turn away and abandon My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ^20 (EL)then I will uproot ^[cs]you from My land which I have given ^[ct]you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight; and I will make it ^(EM)a proverb and an object of scorn among all peoples. ²¹ As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘^(EN)Why has the Lord done these things to this land and to this house?’ ²² And they will say, ‘Because ^(EO)they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods, and worshiped and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.’”

Solomon’s Activities and Accomplishments

8 ^(EP)Now it came about at the end of the twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, ² that he built the cities which Huram had given ^[cu]him, and settled the sons of Israel there.

³ Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper ^(EQ)Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, which were ^(ER)fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars; ⁶ and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for ^[cv]his chariots and cities for ^[cw]his horsemen, and everything that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and all the land ^[cx]under his rule.

^7 (ES)All of the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, ⁸ that is, from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel had not destroyed, ^(ET)Solomon raised them as forced laborers to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make slaves from the sons of Israel for his work; for they were men of war, his chief captains and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁰ These were the chief ^[cy]officers of King Solomon, 250 who ruled over the people.

^11 (EU)Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, because ^[cz]the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on ^(EV)the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch; ¹³ and ^(EW)he did so according to the daily rule, offering them up ^(EX)according to the commandment of Moses, for ^(EY)the Sabbaths, ^(EZ)the new moons, and the ^(FA)three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.

¹⁴ Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed ^(FB)the divisions of the priests for their service, and ^(FC)the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and ^(FD)the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for this is what ^(FE)David, the man of God, had commanded. ¹⁵ And they did not deviate from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any matter or regarding the storehouses.

¹⁶ So all the work of Solomon was carried out ^[da]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(FF)Ezion-geber and to ^(FG)Eloth on the seashore in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And by his servants Huram sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and ^(FH)took from there ^[db]450 talents of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.

Visit of the Queen of Sheba

9 ^(FI)Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She had a very large entourage, with camels carrying balsam oil and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her heart. ² Solomon ^[dc]answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not ^[dd]explain to her. ³ When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, ⁴ the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and ^[de]his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless. ⁵ Then she said to the king, “It was a true ^[df]story that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶ But I did not believe their ^[dg]stories until I came and my own eyes saw it all. And behold, not even half of the greatness of your wisdom was reported to me. You have surpassed the report that I heard. ⁷ How ^[dh]blessed are your men, how ^[di]blessed are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, ^(FJ)setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; ^(FK)because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, He made you king over them, to carry out justice and righteousness.” ⁹ Then she gave the king ^[dj]120 talents of gold and a very great amount of balsam oil and precious stones; there had never been balsam oil like that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹⁰ The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon ^(FL)who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹ From the algum trees the king made steps to the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; and nothing like them was seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire, whatever she requested, besides gifts equal to what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Power

^13 (FM)Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was ^[dk]666 talents of gold, ¹⁴ besides what the traders and merchants brought; and all ^(FN)the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, ^[dl]using six hundred shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. ¹⁶ He made three hundred shields of beaten gold, ^[dm]using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and ^[dn]arms ^[do]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ^[dp]arms. ¹⁹ Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. ²⁰ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered ^[dq]valuable in the days of Solomon. ^21 (FO)For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

^22 (FP)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ^24 (FQ)They were bringing, each of them his gift: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, balsam oil, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

²⁵ Now Solomon had ^(FR)four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^26 (FS)He was ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. ^27 (FT)And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[dr]lowland. ^28 (FU)And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

^29 (FV)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, ^(FW)are they not written in the ^[ds]records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of ^[dt]Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ^30 (FX)Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

Death of Solomon

³¹ And Solomon ^[du]lay down with his fathers and was buried in ^(FY)the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

Rehoboam’s Reign of Foolishness

10 ^(FZ)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about it (^(GA)he was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ So they sent word and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our ^(GB)yoke hard; but now, lighten the hard labor imposed by your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people departed.

⁶ And then King Rehoboam ^(GC)consulted with the elders who had ^[dv]served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ They spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to this people and please them and ^(GD)speak pleasant words to them, then they will be your servants always.” ⁸ But he ^(GE)ignored the advice of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him ^[dw]and served him. ⁹ He said to them, “What advice do you give, so that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “This is what you should say to the people who spoke to you, saying: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us!’ You should speak this way to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ Now then, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke; yet I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with ^[dx]scorpions!’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ^[dy]directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam ignored the advice of the elders. ¹⁴ He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “^[dz]My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with ^[ea]scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, ^(GF)because it was a turn of events from God ^(GG)so that the Lord might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people replied to the king, saying,

^(GI)So all Israel went away to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in ^(GJ)charge of the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him ^[eb]to death. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So ^(GK)Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

11 ^(GL)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the word of the Lord came to ^(GM)Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: “You shall not go up nor fight against ^(GN)your relatives; return, every man, to his house, ^(GO)for this ^[ec]event is from Me.”’” So they listened to the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^(GP)built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and supplies of food, oil, and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel also stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

¹⁴ For ^(GQ)the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because ^(GR)Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord. ^15 (GS)He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and the calves which he had made. ^16 (GT)Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel ^[ed]followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ^17 (GU)They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Then Rehoboam married Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of ^(GV)Eliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹ and she bore to him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he married ^(GW)Maacah the daughter of ^[ee]Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For ^(GX)he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ^22 (GY)Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³ He acted wisely and distributed ^[ef]some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them plenty of provisions. And he sought many wives for them.

Shishak of Egypt Invades Judah

12 ^(GZ)When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, ^(HA)he and all Israel with him abandoned the Law of the Lord. ^2 (HB)And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, that ^(HC)Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³ with 1,200 chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were innumerable: ^(HD)the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. ⁴ And he captured ^(HE)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then ^(HF)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘^(HG)You have abandoned Me, so I also have abandoned you ^[eg]to Shishak.’” ⁶ So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The ^(HH)Lord is righteous.”

⁷ When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “^(HI)They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them; and I will grant them a little deliverance, and ^(HJ)My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak. ⁸ But they will become his slaves, so ^(HK)that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Plunder Impoverishes Judah

^9 (HL)So Shishak king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s palace. He took everything; ^(HM)he even took the gold shields which Solomon had made. ¹⁰ Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the ^[eh]care of the commanders of the ^[ei]guards who guarded the entrance of the king’s house. ¹¹ As often as the king entered the house of the Lord, the ^[ej]guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the ^[ek]guards’ room. ¹² And ^(HN)when he humbled himself, the anger of the Lord turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and conditions ^(HO)were also good in Judah.

^13 (HP)So King Rehoboam became powerful in Jerusalem and reigned there. For Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ But he did evil ^(HQ)because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

^15 (HR)Now the acts of Rehoboam, from the first to the last, are they not written in the ^[el]records of ^(HS)Shemaiah the prophet and of ^(HT)Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ¹⁶ And Rehoboam ^[em]lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and his son ^(HU)Abijah became king in his place.

Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam

13 ^(HV)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He reigned in Jerusalem for three years; and his mother’s name was ^[en]Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^(HW)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah began the battle with an army of warriors, four hundred thousand chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men who were valiant warriors.

Civil War

⁴ Then Abijah stood on Mount ^(HX)Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵ Do you not know that ^(HY)the Lord God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David ^[eo]and his sons by ^(HZ)a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet ^(IA)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his ^[ep]master, ⁷ and worthless men gathered to him, wicked men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when ^[eq](IB)he was young and timid and could not hold his own against them.

⁸ “So now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the Lord ^[er]through the sons of David, ^[es]being a great multitude and having with you ^(IC)the golden calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. ^9 (ID)Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^(IE)to consecrate himself with a bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of things that are ^(IF)not gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to the Lord as priests, and the Levites ^[et]attend to their work. ¹¹ Every morning and evening ^(IG)they ^[eu]burn to the Lord burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and ^(IH)the showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we perform our duty to the Lord our God, but you have abandoned Him. ¹² Now behold, God is with us at our head, and ^(II)His priests with the signal trumpets to sound the war cry against you. Sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

¹³ But Jeroboam ^(IJ)had set an ambush to come from behind, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ When Judah turned around, behold, ^[ev]they were attacked both from front and rear; so ^(IK)they cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, God ^[ew](IL)defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ When the sons of Israel fled from Judah, ^(IM)God handed them over to them. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸ The sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah ^[ex]conquered ^(IN)because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and ^[ey]Ephron with its villages.

Death of Jeroboam

²⁰ Jeroboam did not again recover strength in the days of Abijah; and the ^(IO)Lord struck him and ^(IP)he died.

²¹ But Abijah became powerful, and he took fourteen wives for himself, and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in ^(IQ)the ^[ez]treatise of ^(IR)Iddo the prophet.

Asa Succeeds Abijah in Judah

14 ^[fa](IS)So Abijah ^[fb]lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Asa became king in his place. The land was undisturbed for ten years during his days.

^2 [fc]And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God, ³ for he removed ^(IT)the foreign altars and ^(IU)high places, tore down the memorial stones, cut down the ^[fd](IV)Asherim, ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to ^[fe]comply with the Law and the commandment. ⁵ He also removed the high places and the ^(IW)incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was undisturbed under him. ^6 (IX)He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and ^[ff]there was no one at war with him during those years, ^(IY)because the Lord had given him rest. ⁷ For he said to Judah, “^(IZ)Let’s build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ^[fg]ours because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ Now Asa had an army of ^(JA)three hundred thousand from Judah, carrying large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, carrying shields and wielding bows; all of them were valiant warriors.

⁹ Now Zerah the Ethiopian ^(JB)went out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to ^(JC)Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out ^[fh]to meet him, and they drew up in battle formation in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ Then Asa ^(JD)called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; help us, Lord our God, ^(JE)for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You.” ¹² So ^(JF)the Lord ^[fi]routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(JG)Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that ^[fj]they could not recover, for they were shattered before the Lord and before His army. And they carried away a very large amount of plunder. ¹⁴ They ^[fk]destroyed all the cities around Gerar, ^(JH)for the dread of the Lord had fallen on them; and they pillaged all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ They also fatally struck ^[fl]those who owned livestock, and they led away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Azariah the Prophet Warns Asa

15 Now ^(JI)the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, ² and he went out ^[fm]to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(JJ)the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And ^(JK)if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. ^3 (JL)For many days Israel was without the true God and without ^(JM)a teaching priest and without the Law. ⁴ But ^(JN)in their distress they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. ^5 (JO)In those times there was no peace for him who went out or him who came in, because many disturbances ^[fn]afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ^6 (JP)Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. ⁷ But you, ^(JQ)be strong and do not ^[fo]lose courage, for there is a ^(JR)reward for your work.”

Asa’s Reforms

⁸ Now when Asa heard these words and the ^[fp]prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from ^(JS)the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. ^(JT)He then restored the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord. ⁹ And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon ^(JU)who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ^11 (JV)They sacrificed to the Lord on that day seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from the spoils they had brought. ^12 (JW)They entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; ¹³ and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel ^(JX)was to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ Moreover, they made an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, trumpets, and with horns. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him ^[fq]earnestly, and He let them find Him. So ^(JY)the Lord gave them rest on every side.

^16 (JZ)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made an abominable image ^[fr]as ^(KA)an Asherah, and ^(KB)Asa cut down her abominable image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days. ¹⁸ He brought into the house of God the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver, gold, and utensils. ¹⁹ And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Asa Wars against Baasha

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, ^(KC)Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and ^[fs]fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ² Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and sent it to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³ “A treaty must be made between ^[ft]you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ⁴ And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they ^[fu]conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all ^(KD)the ^[fv]storage cities of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard about it, he stopped ^[fw]fortifying Ramah and put an end to his work. ⁶ Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with it he ^[fx]fortified Geba and Mizpah.

Asa Imprisons the Prophet

⁷ At that time ^(KE)Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “^(KF)Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, for that reason the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. ⁸ Were not ^(KG)the Ethiopians and the Lubim ^(KH)an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet ^(KI)because you relied on the Lord, He handed them over to you. ⁹ For ^(KJ)the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those ^(KK)whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in ^[fy]prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at the same time.

^11 (KL)Now, the acts of Asa from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he ^(KM)did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. ¹³ So Asa ^[fz]lay down with his fathers, and died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled ^(KN)with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and ^(KO)they made a very great fire for him.

Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

17 His son ^(KP)Jehoshaphat then became king in his place, and he proved himself strong over Israel. ² He placed troops in all ^(KQ)the fortified cities of Judah, and placed garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim ^(KR)which his father Asa had captured.

His Good Reign

³ And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he ^[ga]followed the example of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, ⁴ but sought the God of his father, ^[gb]followed His commandments, ^(KS)and did not act as Israel did. ⁵ So the Lord established the kingdom in his ^[gc]control, and all Judah gave tribute to Jehoshaphat, and ^(KT)he had great riches and honor. ^6 [gd]He took great pride in the ways of the Lord, and again ^(KU)removed the high places and the ^[ge]Asherim from Judah.

⁷ Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, ^(KV)to teach in the cities of Judah; ⁸ and with them ^(KW)the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹ They taught in Judah, having ^(KX)the Book of the Law of the Lord with them; and they went throughout the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

¹⁰ Now ^(KY)the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines ^(KZ)brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. ¹² So Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah. ¹³ He had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and warriors, valiant mighty men, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ This was their muster according to their fathers’ households: of Judah, commanders of thousands, Adnah was the commander, and with him three hundred thousand valiant warriors; ¹⁵ and next to him was Johanan the commander, and with him 280,000; ¹⁶ and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, ^(LA)who volunteered for the Lord, and with him two hundred thousand valiant warriors; ¹⁷ and of Benjamin, Eliada, a valiant warrior, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield; ¹⁸ and next to him Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 equipped for war. ¹⁹ These are the ones who served the king, apart from ^(LB)those whom the king put in the fortified cities throughout Judah.

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab

18 Now ^(LC)Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor; and he allied himself by marriage to Ahab. ^2 (LD)Some years later he went down to visit Ahab at Samaria, and Ahab slaughtered many sheep and oxen for him and the people who were with him. And he incited him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. ³ Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?” And he said to him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people, and we will be with you in the battle.”

⁴ However, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please request the word of the Lord ^[gf]first.” ⁵ So the king of Israel assembled the ^[gg]prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, “Should we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will hand it over to the king.” ⁶ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of him?” ⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything good regarding me, but always bad. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “May the king not say so.”

Ahab’s False Prophets Assure Victory

⁸ Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah quickly.” ⁹ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting, each on his throne, dressed in their robes, and they were sitting ^(LE)at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹⁰ Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed!’” ¹¹ All the prophets were prophesying this as well, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and be successful, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”

Micaiah Brings Word from God

¹² Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold, the words of the prophets are ^[gh]unanimously favorable to the king. So please let your word be like one of them, and speak favorably.” ¹³ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, ^(LF)whatever my God says, I will speak it.”

¹⁴ When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” He said, “Go up and succeed, for they will be handed over to you!” ¹⁵ Then the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear that you will tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁶ So he said,

¹⁷ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything good regarding me, but only bad?”

¹⁸ And Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. ^(LH)I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the ^[gi]angels of heaven standing on His right and on His left. ¹⁹ And the Lord said, ‘Who will ^[gj]entice Ahab king of Israel to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one spirit said this, while another said that. ²⁰ Then a ^(LI)spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will ^[gk]entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘How?’ ²¹ He said, ‘I will go out and be ^(LJ)a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You shall ^[gl]entice him, and you will also prevail. Go out and do so.’ ²² Now therefore, behold, ^(LK)the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours, for the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

²³ Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah approached and ^(LL)struck Micaiah on the cheek; and he said, “^[gm]How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?” ²⁴ And Micaiah said, “Behold, you are going to see how on that day when you go from one inner room to ^[gn]another trying to hide yourself.” ²⁵ Then the king of Israel said, “^(LM)Take Micaiah and return him to Amon ^(LN)the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son; ²⁶ and say, ‘This is what the king says: “^(LO)Put this man in prison, and feed him enough bread and water to survive until I ^[go]return safely.”’” ²⁷ But Micaiah said, “If you actually return ^[gp]safely, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “^[gq](LP)Listen, all you people!”

Ahab’s Defeat and Death

²⁸ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. ³⁰ Now the king of Aram had commanded the commanders of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with the small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” ³¹ So when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He is the king of Israel!” And they turned aside to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat ^(LQ)cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him. ³² When the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³³ Now one man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel ^[gr]in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn ^[gs]around and take me out of the battle, for I am severely wounded.” ³⁴ The battle raged on that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot in front of the Arameans until the evening; and at sunset he died.

Jehu Rebukes Jehoshaphat

19 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. ^2 (LR)And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “^(LS)Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord, and ^[gt](LT)by doing so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord? ³ But ^[gu](LU)there is some good in you, for ^(LV)you have removed the ^[gv]Asheroth from the land and you ^(LW)have set your heart to seek God.”

⁴ So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and ^(LX)brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

Reforms Instituted

⁵ He appointed ^(LY)judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city. ⁶ He said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for ^(LZ)you do not judge for mankind but for the Lord who is with you ^[gw]when you render judgment. ⁷ Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; be careful ^[gx]about what you do, for ^[gy]the Lord our God will ^(MA)have no part in injustice ^(MB)or partiality, or in the taking of a bribe.”

⁸ In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat also appointed some ^(MC)of the Levites and priests, and some of the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, for the judgment of the Lord, and ^[gz]to judge disputes among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁹ Then he commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and wholeheartedly. ^10 (MD)Whenever any dispute comes to you from your countrymen who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you shall warn them so that they will not be guilty before the Lord, and ^(ME)wrath will not come on you and your countrymen. This you shall do and you will not be guilty. ¹¹ Behold, Amariah the chief priest will be over you in ^(MF)every matter ^[ha]that pertains to the Lord, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all that pertains to the king. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. ^[hb](MG)Act resolutely, and may the Lord be with the upright.”

Judah Invaded

20 Now it came about after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the ^[hc](MH)Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. ² Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from ^[hd]Aram; and behold, they are in ^(MI)Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).” ³ Jehoshaphat was afraid and ^[he](MJ)turned his attention to seek the Lord; and he ^(MK)proclaimed a period of fasting throughout Judah. ⁴ So Judah gathered together to ^(ML)seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.

Jehoshaphat’s Prayer

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new courtyard; ⁶ and he said, “Lord, God of our fathers, ^(MM)are You not God in the heavens? And ^(MN)are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You. ⁷ Did You not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land from Your people Israel, and ^(MO)give it to the descendants of ^(MP)Your friend Abraham forever? ⁸ They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, ⁹ ‘^(MQ)If disaster comes upon us, the sword, or judgment, or plague, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for ^(MR)Your name is in this house), and cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’ ¹⁰ Now behold, ^(MS)the sons of Ammon, Moab, and ^[hf]Mount Seir, ^(MT)whom You did not allow Israel to invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (for they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), ¹¹ see how they are rewarding us by ^(MU)coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have given us as an inheritance. ¹² Our God, ^(MV)will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but ^(MW)our eyes are on You.”

¹³ All Judah was standing before the Lord, with their infants, their wives, and their children.

Jahaziel Answers the Prayer

¹⁴ Then in the midst of the assembly ^(MX)the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; ¹⁵ and he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: This is what the Lord says to you: ‘^(MY)Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for ^(MZ)the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow, go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You need not fight in this battle; take your position, ^(NA)stand and watch the salvation of the Lord in your behalf, Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow, go out to face them, ^(NB)for the Lord is with you.”

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat ^(NC)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹ The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and from the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

Enemies Destroy Themselves

²⁰ They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: ^(ND)Put your trust in the Lord your God and you will endure. Put your trust in His prophets, and succeed.” ²¹ When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who ^(NE)praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, “^(NF)Give thanks to the Lord, for His faithfulness is everlasting.” ²² When they began singing and praising, the Lord ^(NG)set ambushes against the sons of ^(NH)Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were struck down. ²³ For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, completely destroying them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, ^(NI)they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they turned toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, and there was no survivor. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoils, they found much among them, including goods, ^[hg]garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were taking the spoils for three days because there was so much.

Triumphant Return to Jerusalem

²⁶ Then on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for they blessed the Lord there. Therefore they have named that place “The Valley of ^[hh]Beracah” until today. ²⁷ Every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, ^(NJ)for the Lord had helped them to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ²⁹ And ^(NK)the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, ^(NL)for his God gave him rest on all sides.

^31 (NM)Now Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not deviate from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. ^33 (NN)The high places, however, were not removed; ^(NO)the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first ^[hi]to last, behold, they are written in the annals of ^(NP)Jehu the son of Hanani, which is ^[hj]recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Alliance Displeases God

^35 (NQ)After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly ^[hk]in so doing. ³⁶ So he allied himself with him to make ships to go ^(NR)to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” So the ships were wrecked and could not go to Tarshish.

Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat in Judah

21 ^(NS)Then Jehoshaphat ^[hl]lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Jehoram became king in his place. ² He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, ^[hm]Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king ^(NT)of Israel. ³ Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, ^(NU)with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

⁴ Now when Jehoram had ^[hn]taken over the kingdom of his father and gathered courage, he ^(NV)killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the leaders of Israel as well. ^5 (NW)Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ^6 (NX)He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, ^(NY)for Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷ Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, ^(NZ)and because He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

Revolt against Judah

⁸ In his days ^(OA)Edom broke away ^[ho]from the rule of Judah, and appointed a king over themselves. ⁹ Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck and killed the Edomites who were surrounding him, and the commanders of the chariots. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted ^[hp]against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time ^[hq]against his rule because he had abandoned the Lord God of his fathers. ¹¹ Furthermore, ^(OB)he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(OC)to be unfaithful, and led Judah astray.

¹² Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: ‘Because ^(OD)you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat ^(OE)and the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³ but ^(OF)have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful ^(OG)as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you ^(OH)have also killed your brothers, ^[hr]your own family, who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, the Lord is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great plague; ¹⁵ and ^(OI)you will suffer ^[hs]severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.’”

¹⁶ Then ^(OJ)the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and ^(OK)the Arabs who ^[ht]bordered the Ethiopians; ¹⁷ and they came against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house together with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^[hu](OL)Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸ So after all this the Lord struck him ^(OM)in his intestines with an incurable sickness. ¹⁹ Now it came about in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels came out because of his sickness, and he died in great pain. And his people did not make a funeral fire for him like ^(ON)the fire for his fathers. ²⁰ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years; and he departed ^[hv](OO)with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, ^(OP)but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah

22 ^(OQ)Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^[hw]Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with ^(OR)the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. ² Ahaziah was ^[hx]twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the ^[hy]granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to act wickedly. ⁴ So he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to ^(OS)his own destruction.

Ahaziah Allies with Jehoram of Israel

⁵ He also walked by their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the ^(OT)Arameans ^[hz]wounded ^[ia]Joram. ⁶ So he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds ^[ib]which they had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And ^[ic]Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷ Now ^(OU)the destruction of Ahaziah was from God, in that ^[id]he went to Joram. For when he arrived, ^(OV)he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(OW)whom the Lord had anointed to eliminate the house of Ahab.

Jehu Murders Princes of Judah

^8 (OX)And it came about, when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers attending to Ahaziah, and killed them. ^9 (OY)He also searched for Ahaziah, and they caught him while he was hiding in Samaria; they brought him to Jehu, put him to death, ^(OZ)and buried him. For they said, “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, ^(PA)who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one of the house of Ahaziah to retain the power of the kingdom.

^10 (PB)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and eliminated all the royal ^[ie]children of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death. ¹² He kept himself hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Jehoiada Sets Joash on the Throne of Judah

23 ^(PC)Now in the seventh year, Jehoiada gathered his courage, and took captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Johanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, and they entered into a covenant with him. ² And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers’ households of ^(PD)Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. ³ Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And ^[if]Jehoiada said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, ^(PE)as the Lord has spoken concerning the sons of David. ⁴ This is the thing which you shall do: a third of you, of the priests and Levites ^(PF)who come in on the Sabbath, shall be gatekeepers, ⁵ and a third shall be at the king’s house, and a third at the Gate of the Foundation; and all the people shall be in the courtyards of the house of the Lord. ⁶ But no one is to enter the house of the Lord except the priests and ^(PG)the ministering Levites; they may enter, for they are holy. And all the people are to keep the command of the Lord. ⁷ The Levites will surround the king, each man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever enters the house is to be put to death. Therefore be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

⁸ The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss any of ^(PH)the divisions. ⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and the shields and quivers which had been King David’s, which were in the house of God. ¹⁰ He stationed all the people, each man with his weapon in his hand, from the right ^[ig]side of the house to the left ^[ih]side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king. ¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him, and gave him ^(PI)the testimony and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “^(PJ)Long live the king!”

Athaliah Murdered

¹² When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. ¹³ She looked, and behold, the king was standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the ^[ii]trumpeters were beside the king. And all the people of the land rejoiced and blew trumpets, the singers with their musical instruments ^[ij]leading the praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!” ¹⁴ And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were appointed over the army, and said to them, “Bring her out ^[ik]between the ranks, and whoever follows her is to be put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “You shall not put her to death in the house of the Lord.” ¹⁵ So they ^[il]seized her, and when she arrived at the entrance of ^(PK)the Horse Gate of the king’s house, they ^(PL)put her to death there.

Reforms Carried Out

¹⁶ Then ^(PM)Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they would be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ And all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down, and they broke in pieces his altars and his images, and ^(PN)killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸ Moreover, Jehoiada placed the offices of the house of the Lord under the ^[im]authority of ^(PO)the Levitical priests, ^(PP)whom David had assigned over the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses—^(PQ)with rejoicing and singing according to the ^[in]order of David. ¹⁹ He stationed ^(PR)the gatekeepers of the house of the Lord, so that no one would enter who was in any way unclean. ^20 (PS)He took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the Lord, and went through the upper gate to the king’s house. And they seated the king upon the royal throne. ²¹ So ^(PT)all of the people of the land rejoiced and the city was at rest. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword.

Young Joash Influenced by Jehoiada

24 ^(PU)Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba. ^2 (PV)Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. ³ Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

Faithless Priests

⁴ Now it came about after this that Joash ^[io]decided ^(PW)to restore the house of the Lord. ⁵ He gathered the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all ^(PX)Israel to ^[ip]repair the house of your God annually, and you shall ^[iq]do the work quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. ⁶ So the king summoned Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem ^(PY)the ^[ir]contribution of Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel, ^(PZ)for the tent of the testimony?” ⁷ For ^(QA)the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God, and even ^[is]used the holy things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

Temple Repaired

⁸ So the king commanded, and ^(QB)they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the Lord. ^9 (QC)And they made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord ^(QD)the ^[it]contribution commanded by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ All the officers and all the people rejoiced, and they brought in their contribution and ^[iu]dropped it into the chest until they had finished. ¹¹ It happened that whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officer by the Levites, and ^(QE)they saw that the money was substantial, the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer would come and empty the chest, and pick it up and return it to its place. They did this daily and collected a large amount of money. ¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. ¹³ So the workmen labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands, and they ^[iv]restored the house of God according to its ^[iw]specifications and strengthened it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was made into utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for the service and the burnt offerings, and pans and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually, all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ Now Jehoiada ^[ix]reached a good old age and he died; he was 130 years old at his death. ¹⁶ And they buried him ^(QF)in the city of David with the kings, because he had done well in ^(QG)Israel and ^[iy]for God and His house.

¹⁷ But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them.