^17:1Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me take out twelve thousand men and this very night I will go after David: ^17:2And I will come up with him when he is tired and feeble, and make him full of fear: and all the people with him will go in flight; and I will make an attack on the king only: ^17:3And I will make all the people come back to you as a bride comes back to her husband: it is the life of only one man you are going after; so all the people will be at peace. ^17:4And the saying was pleasing to Absalom and to the responsible men of Israel. ^17:5Then Absalom said, Now send for Hushai the Archite, and let us give ear to what he has to say. ^17:6And when Hushai came, Absalom said to him, This is what Ahithophel has said: are we to do as he says? if not, what is your suggestion? ^17:7And Hushai said to Absalom, Ahithophel's idea is not a good one at this time. ^17:8Hushai said further, You have knowledge of your father and his men, that they are men of war, and that their feelings are bitter, like those of a bear in the field whose young ones have been taken from her: and your father is a man of war, and will not take his night's rest with the people; ^17:9But he will certainly have taken cover now in some hole or secret place; and if some of our people, at the first attack, are overcome, then any hearing of it will say, There is destruction among the people who are on Absalom's side. ^17:10Then even the strongest, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will become like water; for all Israel is conscious that your father is a man of war, and those who are with him are strong and without fear. ^17:11But my suggestion is that all Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, comes together to you, a great army like the sands of the sea in number; and that you yourself go out among them. ^17:12Then we will come on him in some place, wherever he may be, falling on him as the dew comes on the earth: and of him and all the men who are with him not one will get away with his life. ^17:13And if he has gone into some town, then let all Israel take strong cords to that town, and we will have it pulled into the valley, till not one small stone is to be seen there. ^17:14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, Hushai's suggestion is better than that of Ahithophel. For it was the purpose of the Lord to make the wise designs of Ahithophel without effect, so that the Lord might send evil on Absalom. ^17:15Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, This is the suggestion made by Ahithophel to Absalom and the responsible men of Israel, and this is what I said to them. ^17:16So now send the news quickly to David, and say, Do not take your night's rest by the way across the river to the waste land, but be certain to go over; or the king and all the people with him will come to destruction. ^17:17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting by En-rogel; and a servant-girl went from time to time and gave them news and they went with the news to King David, for it was not wise for them to let themselves be seen coming into the town. ^17:18But a boy saw them, and gave word of it to Absalom: so the two of them went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim who had a water-hole in his garden, and they went down into it. ^17:19And a woman put a cover over the hole, and put crushed grain on top of it, and no one had any knowledge of it. ^17:20And Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have gone from here to the stream. And after searching for them, and seeing nothing of them, they went back to Jerusalem. ^17:21Then after the servants had gone away, they came up out of the water-hole and went to give King David the news; and they said, Get up and go quickly over the water, for such and such are Ahithophel's designs against you. ^17:22So David and all the people who were with him went up over Jordan: when dawn came, every one of them had gone over Jordan. ^17:23Now when Ahithophel saw that his suggestion was not acted on, he got his ass ready, and went back to his house, to the town where he came from, and having put his house in order, he put himself to death by hanging; so he came to his end and was put in the resting-place of his father. ^17:24And David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom, with all the men of Israel, went over Jordan. ^17:25And Absalom put Amasa at the head of the army in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite, who had been the lover of Abigail, the daughter of Jesse, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. ^17:26And Israel and Absalom put up their tents in the land of Gilead. ^17:27Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah, the Ammonite, and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, ^17:28Came with beds and basins and pots, and grain and meal, and all sorts of dry foods, ^17:29And honey and butter and sheep and milk-cheeses, for David and his people: for they said, This people is in the waste land, needing food and drink and rest.

^18:1And David had the people who were with him numbered, and he put over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds. ^18:2And David sent the people out, a third of them under the orders of Joab, and a third under the orders of Abishai, son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, And I myself will certainly go out with you. ^18:3But the people said, It is better for you not to go out: for if we are put to flight, they will not give a thought to us, and if death overtakes half of us, it will be nothing to them: but you are of more value than ten thousand of us: so it is better for you to be ready to come to our help from this town. ^18:4And the king said to them, I will do whatever seems best to you. So the king took his place by the door of the town, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. ^18:5And the king gave orders to Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Because of me, be gentle to the young man Absalom. And this order about Absalom was given in the hearing of all the people. ^18:6So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the fight took place in the woods of Ephraim. ^18:7And the people of Israel were overcome there by the servants of David, and there was a great destruction that day, and twenty thousand men were put to the sword. ^18:8And the fighting went on over all the face of the country: and the woods were responsible for more deaths than the sword. ^18:9And Absalom came across some of David's men. And Absalom was seated on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great tree, and his head became fixed in the tree and he was lifted up between earth and heaven, and the beast under him went on. ^18:10And a certain man saw it and said to Joab, I saw Absalom hanging in a tree. ^18:11And Joab said to the man who had given him the news, If you saw this, why did you not put your sword through him, and I would have given you ten bits of silver and a band for your robe? ^18:12And the man said to Joab, Even if you gave me a thousand bits of silver, I would not put out my hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king gave orders to you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Take care that the young man Absalom is not touched. ^18:13And if I had falsely put him to death (and nothing may be kept secret from the king), you would have had nothing to do with me. ^18:14Then Joab said, I would have made it safe for you. And he took three spears in his hand, and put them through Absalom's heart, while he was still living, in the branches of the tree. ^18:15And ten young men, servants of Joab, came round Absalom and put an end to him. ^18:16And Joab had the horn sounded, and the people came back from going after Israel, for Joab kept them back. ^18:17And they took Absalom's body and put it into a great hole in the wood, and put a great mass of stones over it: and every man of Israel went in flight to his tent. ^18:18Now Absalom, before his death, had put up for himself a pillar in the king's valley, naming it after himself; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory: and to this day it is named Absalom's pillar. ^18:19Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said, Let me go and give the king news of how the Lord has done right in his cause against those who took up arms against him. ^18:20And Joab said, You will take no news today; another day you may give him the news, but you will take no news today, because the king's son is dead. ^18:21Then Joab said to the Cushite, Go and give the king word of what you have seen. And the Cushite, making a sign of respect to Joab, went off running. ^18:22Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said to Joab again, Whatever may come of it, let me go after the Cushite. And Joab said, Why have you a desire to go, my son, seeing that you will get no reward for your news? ^18:23Whatever may come of it, he said, I will go. Then he said to him, Go. So Ahimaaz went running by the lowland road and overtook the Cushite. ^18:24Now David was seated between the two town doors; and the watchman went up to the roof of the doorways, on the wall, and, lifting up his eyes, saw a man running by himself. ^18:25And the watchman gave news of it to the king. And the king said, If he is coming by himself, then he has news. And the man was travelling quickly, and came near. ^18:26Then the watchman saw another man running: and crying out in the direction of the door he said, Here is another man running by himself. And the king said, He, like the other, comes with news. ^18:27And the watchman said, It seems to me that the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and his news will be good. ^18:28And Ahimaaz, crying out to the king, said, It is well. And falling down before the king, with his face to the earth, he said, May the Lord your God be praised, who has given up the men who took up arms against my lord the king! ^18:29And the king said, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And Ahimaaz said in answer, When Joab sent me, your servant, I saw a great outcry going on, but I had no knowledge of what it was. ^18:30And the king said, Get back and take your place here. So turning to one side, he took his place there. ^18:31And then the Cushite came and said, I have news for my lord the king: today the Lord has done right in your cause against all those who took up arms against you. ^18:32And the king said to the Cushite, Is the young man Absalom safe? And the Cushite said in answer, May all the king's haters and those who do evil against the king, be as that young man is! ^18:33Then the king was much moved, and went up into the room over the door, weeping, and saying, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! if only my life might have been given for yours, O Absalom, my son, my son!

^19:1And word was given to Joab that the king was weeping and sorrowing for Absalom. ^19:2And the salvation of that day was changed to sorrow for all the people: for it was said to the people, The king is in bitter grief for his son. ^19:3And the people made their way back to the town quietly and secretly, as those who are shamed go secretly when they go in flight from the war. ^19:4But the king, covering his face, gave a great cry, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! ^19:5And Joab came into the house to the king and said, Today you have put to shame the faces of all your servants who even now have kept you and your sons and your daughters and your wives and all your women safe from death; ^19:6For your haters, it seems, are dear to you, and your friends are hated. For you have made it clear that captains and servants are nothing to you: and now I see that if Absalom was living and we had all been dead today, it would have been right in your eyes. ^19:7So get up now, and go out and say some kind words to your servants; for, by the Lord, I give you my oath, that if you do not go out, not one of them will keep with you tonight; and that will be worse for you than all the evil which has overtaken you from your earliest years. ^19:8Then the king got up and took his seat near the town-door. And word was given to all the people that the king was in the public place: and all the people came before the king. Now all the men of Israel had gone back in flight to their tents. ^19:9And through all the tribes of Israel the people were having arguments, saying, The king made us safe from the hands of those who were against us and made us free from the hands of the Philistines; and now he has gone in flight from the land, because of Absalom. ^19:10And Absalom, whom we made a ruler over us, is dead in the fight. So now why do you say nothing about getting the king back? And word of what all Israel was saying came to the king. ^19:11And King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, Say to the responsible men of Judah, Why are you the last to take steps to get the king back to his house? ^19:12You are my brothers, my bone and my flesh; why are you the last to get the king back again? ^19:13And say to Amasa, Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God's punishment be on me, if I do not make you chief of the army before me at all times in place of Joab! ^19:14And the hearts of the men of Judah were moved like one man; so that they sent to the king, saying, Come back, with all your servants. ^19:15So the king came back, and came as far as Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, meeting the king there, to take him back with them over Jordan. ^19:16And Shimei, the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, got up quickly and went down with the men of Judah for the purpose of meeting King David; ^19:17And with him a thousand men of Benjamin, and Ziba, the servant of Saul, with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, came rushing to Jordan before the king, ^19:18And kept going across the river to take the people of the king's house over, and to do whatever was desired by the king. And Shimei, the son of Gera, went down on his face in the dust before the king, when he was about to go over Jordan, ^19:19And said to him, Let me not be judged as a sinner in your eyes, O my lord, and do not keep in mind the wrong I did on the day when my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, or take it to heart. ^19:20For your servant is conscious of his sin: and so, as you see, I have come today, the first of all the sons of Joseph, for the purpose of meeting my lord the king. ^19:21But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said, Is not death the right fate for Shimei, because he has been cursing the one marked by the holy oil? ^19:22And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you put yourselves against me today? is it right for any man in Israel to be put to death today? for I am certain today that I am king in Israel. ^19:23So the king said to Shimei, You will not be put to death. And the king gave him his oath. ^19:24And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son, came down for the purpose of meeting the king; his feet had not been cared for or his hair cut or his clothing washed from the day when the king went away till the day when he came back in peace. ^19:25Now when he had come from Jerusalem to see the king, the king said to him, Why did you not come with me, Mephibosheth? ^19:26And he said in answer, Because of the deceit of my servant, my lord king: for I, your servant, said to him, You are to make ready an ass and on it I will go with the king, for your servant has not the use of his feet. ^19:27He has given you a false account of me: but my lord the king is like the angel of God: do then whatever seems good to you. ^19:28For all my father's family were only dead men before my lord the king: and still you put your servant among those whose place is at the king's table. What right then have I to say anything more to the king? ^19:29And the king said, Say nothing more about these things. I say, Let there be a division of the land between Ziba and you. ^19:30And Mephibosheth said, Let him take it all, now that my lord the king has come back to his house in peace! ^19:31And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went on as far as Jordan with the king to take him across Jordan. ^19:32Now Barzillai was a very old man, as much as eighty years old: and he had given the king everything he had need of, while he was at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. ^19:33And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will take care of you in Jerusalem. ^19:34And Barzillai said to the king, How much of my life is still before me, for me to go up to Jerusalem with the king? ^19:35I am now eighty years old: good and bad are the same to me; have meat and drink any taste for me now? am I able to take pleasure in the voices of men or women in song? why then am I to be a trouble to my lord the king? ^19:36Your servant's desire was only to take the king over Jordan; why is the king to give me such a reward? ^19:37Let your servant now go back again, so that when death comes to me, it may be in my town and by the resting-place of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham: let him go with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you. ^19:38And the king said in answer, Let Chimham go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you: and whatever your desire is, I will do it for you. ^19:39Then all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over: and the king gave Barzillai a kiss, with his blessing; and he went back to his place. ^19:40So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went with him: and all the people of Judah, as well as half the people of Israel, took the king on his way. ^19:41Then the men of Israel came to the king and said, Why have our countrymen of Judah taken you away in secret and come over Jordan with the king and all his family, because all his people are David's men? ^19:42And all the men of Judah gave this answer to the men of Israel, Because the king is our near relation: why then are you angry about this? have we taken any of the king's food, or has he given us any offering? ^19:43And in answer to the men of Judah, the men of Israel said, We have ten parts in the king, and we are the first in order of birth: why did you make nothing of us? and were we not the first to make suggestions for getting the king back? And the words of the men of Judah were more violent than the words of the men of Israel.

^20:1Now by chance there was present a good-for-nothing person named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he, sounding the horn, said, We have no part in David, or any interest in the son of Jesse: let every man go to his tent, O Israel. ^20:2So all the men of Israel, turning away from David, went after Sheba, the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah were true to their king, going with him from Jordan as far as Jerusalem. ^20:3And David came to his house at Jerusalem: and the king took the ten women to whom he had given the care of the house, and had them shut up, and gave them the necessaries of life, but did not go near them. So they were shut up till the day of their death, living as widows. ^20:4Then the king said to Amasa, Get all the men of Judah together, and in three days be here yourself. ^20:5So Amasa went to get all the men of Judah together, but he took longer than the time David had given him. ^20:6And David said to Abishai, Sheba, the son of Bichri, will do us more damage than Absalom did; so take some of your lord's servants and go after him, before he makes himself safe in the walled towns, and gets away before our eyes. ^20:7So there went after Abishai, Joab and the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the fighting-men; they went out of Jerusalem to overtake Sheba, the son of Bichri. ^20:8When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came face to face with them. Now Joab had on his war-dress, and round him a band from which his sword was hanging in its cover; and while he was walking, it came out, falling to the earth. ^20:9And Joab said to Amasa, Is it well, my brother? And with his right hand he took him by the hair of his chin to give him a kiss. ^20:10But Amasa did not see danger from the sword which was now in Joab's left hand, and Joab put it through his stomach so that his inside came out on to the earth, and he did not give him another blow. So Joab and his brother Abishai went on after Sheba, the son of Bichri. ^20:11And one of Joab's young men, taking his place at Amasa's side, said, Whoever is for Joab and for David, let him go after Joab! ^20:12And Amasa was stretched out in a pool of blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people were stopping, he took Amasa out of the highway and put him in a field, with a cloth over him, when he saw that everyone who went by came to a stop. ^20:13When he had been taken off the road, all the people went on after Joab in search of Sheba, the son of Bichri. ^20:14And Sheba went through all the tribes of Israel, to Abel of Beth-maacah; and all the Bichrites came together and went in after him. ^20:15And Joab and his men got him shut up in Abel of Beth-maacah, and put up an earthwork against the town: and all Joab's men did their best to get the wall broken down. ^20:16Then a wise woman got up on the wall, and crying out from the town, said, Give ear, give ear; say now to Joab, Come near, so that I may have talk with you. ^20:17And he came near, and the woman said, Are you Joab? And he said in answer, I am. Then she said, Give ear to your servant's words. And he said, I am giving ear. ^20:18Then she said, In the old days, there was a saying, Let them put the question in Abel and in Dan, saying, Has what was ordered by men of good faith in Israel ever come to an end? ^20:19Your purpose is the destruction of a mother-town in Israel: why would you put an end to the heritage of the Lord? ^20:20And Joab, answering her, said, Far, far be it from me to be a cause of death or destruction; ^20:21Not so: but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba, son of Bichri, by name, has taken up arms against the king, against David: give up this man only, and I will go away from the town. And the woman said to Joab, His head will be dropped over the wall to you. ^20:22Then the woman in her wisdom had talk with all the town. And they had Sheba's head cut off and sent out to Joab. And he had the horn sounded, and sent them all away from the town, every man to his tent. And Joab went back to Jerusalem to the king. ^20:23Now Joab was over all the army; and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was at the head of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; ^20:24And Adoram was overseer of the forced work; and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the recorder; ^20:25And Sheva was the scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ^20:26And in addition, Ira the Jairite was a priest to David.

^21:1In the days of David they were short of food for three years, year after year; and David went before the Lord for directions. And the Lord said, On Saul and on his family there is blood, because he put the Gibeonites to death. ^21:2Then the king sent for the Gibeonites; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but were the last of the Amorites, to whom the children of Israel had given an oath; but Saul, in his passion for the children of Israel and Judah, had made an attempt on their lives:) ^21:3So David said to the Gibeonites, What may I do for you? how am I to make up to you for your wrongs, so that you may give a blessing to the heritage of the Lord? ^21:4And the Gibeonites said to him, It is not a question of silver and gold between us and Saul or his family; and it is not in our power to put to death any man in Israel. And he said, Say, then, what am I to do for you? ^21:5And they said to the king, As for the man by whom we were wasted, and who made designs against us to have us completely cut off from the land of Israel, ^21:6Let seven men of his family be given up to us and we will put an end to them by hanging them before the Lord in Gibeon, on the hill of the Lord. And the king said, I will give them. ^21:7But the king did not give up Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the Lord's oath made between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. ^21:8But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Saul to whom Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, had given birth; and the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, whose father was Adriel, the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: ^21:9And he gave them up to the Gibeonites, and they put them to death, hanging them on the mountain before the Lord; all seven came to their end together in the first days of the grain-cutting, at the start of the cutting of the barley. ^21:10And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took haircloth, placing it on the rock as a bed for herself, from the start of the grain-cutting till rain came down on them from heaven; and she did not let the birds of the air come near them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. ^21:11And news was given to David of what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, one of Saul's wives, had done. ^21:12And David went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had taken them away secretly from the public place of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had put them, hanging up the bodies there on the day when they put Saul to death in Gilboa: ^21:13And he took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from that place; and they got together the bones of those who had been put to death by hanging. ^21:14And they put them with the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the resting-place of Kish, his father, in Zela in the country of Benjamin; they did all the king had given them orders to do. And after that, God gave ear to their prayers for the land. ^21:15And the Philistines went to war again with Israel; and David went down with his people, and while they were at Gob they had a fight with the Philistines: ^21:16And there came against David one of the offspring of the Rephaim, whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, and having a new sword, he made an attempt to put David to death. ^21:17But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to his help, and, turning on the Philistine, gave him his death-blow. Then David's men took an oath, and said, Never again are you to go out with us to the fight, so that you may not put out the light of Israel. ^21:18Now after this there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Sibbecai the Hushathite put to death Saph, one of the offspring of the Rephaim. ^21:19And again there was war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan, the son of Jair the Beth-lehemite, put to death Goliath the Gittite, the stem of whose spear was like a cloth-worker's rod. ^21:20And again there was war at Gath, where there was a very tall man, who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet; he was one of the offspring of the Rephaim. ^21:21And when he was purposing to put shame on Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimei, David's brother, put him to death. ^21:22These four were of the offspring of the Rephaim in Gath; and they came to their end by the hands of David and his servants.

^22:1And David made a song to the Lord in these words, on the day when the Lord made him free from the hands of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul: ^22:2And he said, The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour, even mine; ^22:3My God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my safe place; my saviour, who keeps me safe from the violent man. ^22:4I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me. ^22:5For the waves of death came round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear; ^22:6The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me. ^22:7In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came to his ears. ^22:8Then the earth was moved with a violent shock; the bases of heaven were moved and shaking, because he was angry. ^22:9There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: coals were lighted by it. ^22:10The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet. ^22:11And he went through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind. ^22:12And he made the dark his tent round him, a mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies. ^22:13Before his shining light his dark clouds went past, raining ice and coals of fire. ^22:14The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out. ^22:15And he sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled. ^22:16Then the deep beds of the sea were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of the Lord's wrath, because of the breath of his mouth. ^22:17He sent from on high, he took me, pulling me out of great waters. ^22:18He made me free from my strong hater, from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I. ^22:19They came on me in the day of my trouble: but the Lord was my support. ^22:20He took me out into a wide place; he was my saviour because he had delight in me. ^22:21The Lord gives me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean before him. ^22:22For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not been turned away in sin from my God. ^22:23For all his decisions were before me, and I did not put away his laws from me. ^22:24And I was upright before him, and I kept myself from sin. ^22:25Because of this the Lord has given me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean in his eyes. ^22:26On him who has mercy you will have mercy; to the upright you will be upright; ^22:27He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge. ^22:28For you are the saviour of those who are in trouble; but your eyes are on men of pride, to make them low. ^22:29For you are my light, O Lord; and the Lord will make the dark bright for me. ^22:30By your help I have made a way through the wall which was shutting me in: by the help of my God I have gone over a wall. ^22:31As for God, his way is all good: the word of the Lord is tested; he is a safe cover for all those who put their faith in him. ^22:32For who is God but the Lord? and who is a Rock but our God? ^22:33God puts a strong band about me, guiding me in a straight way. ^22:34He makes my feet like roes' feet, and puts me on high places. ^22:35He makes my hands expert in war, so that a bow of brass is bent by my arms. ^22:36You have given me the breastplate of your salvation, and your mercy has made me great. ^22:37You have made my steps wide under me, so that my feet make no slip. ^22:38I go after my haters and overtake them; not turning back till they are all overcome. ^22:39I have sent destruction on them and given them wounds, so that they are not able to get up: they are stretched under my feet. ^22:40For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who came out against me. ^22:41By you their backs are turned in flight, so that my haters are cut off. ^22:42They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer. ^22:43Then they were crushed as small as the dust of the earth, stamped down under my feet like the waste of the streets. ^22:44You have made me free from the fightings of my people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants. ^22:45Men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority: from the time when my name comes to their ears, they will be ruled by me. ^22:46They will be wasted away, they will come out of their secret places shaking with fear. ^22:47The Lord is living; praise be to my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be honoured: ^22:48It is God who sends punishment on my haters, and puts peoples under my rule. ^22:49He makes me free from my haters: I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man. ^22:50Because of this I will give you praise, O Lord, among the nations, and will make a song of praise to your name. ^22:51Great salvation does he give to his king; he has mercy on the king of his selection, David, and on his seed for ever.

^23:1Now these are the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, says, the man who was lifted up on high, the man on whom the God of Jacob put the holy oil, the loved one of Israel's songs, says: ^23:2The spirit of the Lord had voice through me, his word was on my tongue. ^23:3The God of Israel said, the word of the Rock of Israel came to me: When an upright king is ruling over men, when he is ruling in the fear of God, ^23:4It is as the light of the morning, when the sun comes up, a morning without clouds; making young grass come to life from the earth. ^23:5For is not my house so with God? For he has made with me an eternal agreement, ordered in all things and certain: as for all my salvation and all my desire, will he not give it increase? ^23:6But the evil-doers, all of them, will be like thorns to be pushed away, because they may not be gripped in the hand: ^23:7But anyone touching them has to be armed with iron and the rod of a spear; and they will be burned with fire, every one of them. ^23:8These are the names of David's men of war: Ishbaal the Hachmonite, chief of the three; his axe was lifted up against eight hundred put to death at one time. ^23:9After him was Eleazar, the son of Dodai the Ahohite, one of the three great fighters, who was with David in Pas-dammim when the Philistines came together there for the fight; and when the men of Israel had gone in flight, ^23:10He was with David and went on fighting the Philistines till his hand became tired and stiff from gripping his sword: and that day the Lord gave a great salvation, and the people came back after him only to take the goods of the Philistines. ^23:11After him was Shammah, the son of Ela the Hararite. And the Philistines came together in Lehi, where there was a bit of land full of seed; and the people went in flight from the Philistines. ^23:12But he kept his place in the middle of the bit of land, and kept back their attack and overcame the Philistines: and the Lord gave a great salvation. ^23:13And three of the thirty went down at the start of the grain-cutting, and they came to David at the strong place of Adullam; and the band of Philistines had taken up their position in the valley of Rephaim. ^23:14And at that time David had taken cover in the strong place, and an armed force of the Philistines was in Beth-lehem. ^23:15And David, moved by a strong desire, said, If only someone would give me a drink of water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem, by the doorway into the town! ^23:16And the three men, forcing their way through the Philistine army, got water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem, by the doorway into the town, and took it back to David: but he would not take it, but, draining it out, made an offering of it to the Lord. ^23:17And he said, Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this; how may I take as my drink the life-blood of men who have put their lives in danger? So he would not take it. These things did the three great men of war. ^23:18And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. He put to death three hundred with his spear, and he got for himself a name among the thirty. ^23:19Was he not the noblest of the thirty? so he was made their captain: but he was not equal to the first three. ^23:20And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, a fighting man of Kabzeel, had done great acts; he put to death the two sons of Ariel of Moab: he went down into a hole and put a lion to death in time of snow: ^23:21And he made an attack on an Egyptian, a tall man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a stick, and pulling the spear out of the hands of the Egyptian, put him to death with that same spear. ^23:22These were the acts of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who had a great name among the thirty men of war. ^23:23He was honoured over the rest of the thirty, but he was not equal to the first three. And David put him over the fighting men who kept him safe. ^23:24Asahel, the brother of Joab, was one of the thirty; and Elhanan, the son of Dodai, of Beth-lehem, ^23:25Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ^23:26Helez the Paltite, Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ^23:27Abiezer the Anathothite, Sibbecai the Hushathite, ^23:28Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, ^23:29Heldai, the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai, the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, ^23:30Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the valleys of Gaash, ^23:31Abiel the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Bahurim, ^23:32Eliahba the Shaalbonite, Jashen the Gunite, ^23:33Jonathan, the son of Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam, the son of Sharar the Hararite, ^23:34Eliphelet, the son of Ahasbai the Maacathite, Eliam, the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, ^23:35Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Archite, ^23:36Igal, the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ^23:37Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, who had the care of the arms of Joab, son of Zeruiah, ^23:38Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ^23:39Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in number.

^24:1Again the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and moving David against them, he said, Go, take the number of Israel and Judah. ^24:2And the king said to Joab and the captains of the army, who were with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, and have all the people numbered, so that I may be certain of the number of the people. ^24:3And Joab said to the king, Whatever the number of the people, may the Lord make it a hundred times as much, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it: but why does my lord the king take pleasure in doing this thing? ^24:4But the king's order was stronger than Joab and the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out from the king, to take the number of the children of Israel. ^24:5And they went over Jordan, and starting from Aroer, from the town which is in the middle of the valley, they went in the direction of the Gadites, and on to Jazer; ^24:6Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of the Hittites under Hermon; and they came to Dan, and from Dan they came round to Zidon, ^24:7And to the walled town of Tyre, and to all the towns of the Hivites and the Canaanites: and they went out to the South of Judah at Beer-sheba. ^24:8So after going through all the land in every direction, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ^24:9And Joab gave the king the number of all the people: there were in Israel eight hundred thousand fighting men able to take up arms; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand. ^24:10And after the people had been numbered, David's heart was troubled. And David said to the Lord, Great has been my sin in doing this; but now, O Lord, be pleased to take away the sin of your servant, for I have done very foolishly ^24:11And David got up in the morning; now the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, ^24:12Go and say to David, The Lord says, Three things are offered to you: say which of them you will have, and I will do it to you. ^24:13So Gad came to David, and gave him word of this and said to him, Are there to be three years when there is not enough food in your land? or will you go in flight from your haters for three months, while they go after you? or will you have three days of violent disease in your land? take thought and say what answer I am to give to him who sent me. ^24:14And David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let us come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men. ^24:15So David made selection of the disease; and the time was the days of the grain-cutting, when the disease came among the people, causing the death of seventy thousand men from Dan as far as Beer-sheba. ^24:16And when the hand of the angel was stretched out in the direction of Jerusalem, for its destruction, the Lord had regret for the evil, and said to the angel who was sending destruction on the people, It is enough; do no more. And the angel of the Lord was by the grain-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ^24:17And when David saw the angel who was causing the destruction of the people, he said to the Lord, Truly, the sin is mine; I have done wrong: but these are only sheep; what have they done? let your hand be against me and against my family. ^24:18And that day Gad came to David and said to him, Go up, and put up an altar to the Lord on the grain-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ^24:19So David went up, as Gad had said and as the Lord had given orders. ^24:20And Araunah, looking out, saw the king and his servants coming to him: and Araunah went out, and went down on his face to the earth before the king. ^24:21And Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To give you a price for your grain-floor, so that I may put up an altar to the Lord, and the disease may be stopped among the people. ^24:22And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take whatever seems right to him, and make an offering of it: see, here are the oxen for the burned offering, and the grain-cleaning instruments and the ox-yokes for wood: ^24:23All this does the servant of my lord the king give to the king. And Araunah said, May the Lord your God be pleased with your offering! ^24:24And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will give you a price for it; I will not give to the Lord my God burned offerings for which I have given nothing. So David got the grain-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ^24:25And there David put up an altar to the Lord, making burned offerings and peace-offerings. So the Lord gave ear to his prayer for the land, and the disease came to an end in Israel.

1 Kings

^1:1Now King David was old and far on in years; and though they put covers over him, his body was cold. ^1:2So his servants said to him, Let search be made for a young virgin for my lord the king, to take care of him and be waiting on him; and you may take her in your arms, and so my lord the king will be warm. ^1:3So after searching through all the land of Israel for a fair young girl, they saw Abishag the Shunammite, and took her to the king. ^1:4Now she was very beautiful; and she took care of the king, waiting on him at all times; but the king had no connection with her. ^1:5Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, lifting himself up in pride, said, I will become king; and he made ready his carriages of war and his horsemen, with fifty runners to go before him. ^1:6Now all his life his father had never gone against him or said to him, Why have you done so? and he was a very good-looking man, and younger than Absalom. ^1:7And he had talk with Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest; and they were on his side and gave him their support. ^1:8But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei, and David's men of war did not take the side of Adonijah. ^1:9Then Adonijah put to death sheep and oxen and fat beasts by the stone of Zoheleth, by En-rogel; and he sent for all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants, to come to him: ^1:10But he did not send for Nathan the prophet and Benaiah and the other men of war and Solomon his brother. ^1:11Then Nathan said to Bath-sheba, the mother of Solomon, Has it not come to your ears that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has made himself king without the knowledge of David our lord? ^1:12So now, let me make a suggestion, so that you may keep your life safe and the life of your son Solomon. ^1:13Come now, go to King David and say to him, Did you not, O my lord, take an oath to me, your servant, saying, Truly Solomon your son will be king after me, seated on the seat of my kingdom? why then is Adonijah acting as king? ^1:14And while you are still talking there with the king, see, I will come in after you and say that your story is true. ^1:15Then Bath-sheba went into the king's room; now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was waiting on him. ^1:16And Bath-sheba went down on her face on the earth before the king giving him honour. And he said, What is your desire? ^1:17And she said to him, My lord, you took an oath by the Lord your God and gave your word to your servant, saying, Truly, Solomon your son will be king after me, seated on the seat of my kingdom. ^1:18And now, see, Adonijah has made himself king without my lord's knowledge; ^1:19And has put to death oxen and fat beasts and sheep in great numbers, and has sent for all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the captain of the army; but he has not sent for Solomon your servant. ^1:20And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, waiting for you to say who is to take the place of my lord the king after him. ^1:21For as things are, it will come about, when my lord the king is sleeping with his fathers, that I and Solomon my son will be made outlaws. ^1:22And while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ^1:23And they said to the king, Here is Nathan the prophet. And when he came in before the king, he went down on his face on the earth. ^1:24And Nathan said, O my lord king, have you said, Adonijah is to be king after me, seated on the seat of my kingdom? ^1:25Because today he has gone down and has put to death oxen and fat beasts and sheep in great numbers, and has sent for all the king's sons to come to him, with the captains of the army and Abiathar the priest; and they are feasting before him and crying, Long life to King Adonijah! ^1:26But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon, he has not sent for. ^1:27Has this thing been done by my lord the king, without giving word to your servants who was to be placed on my lord the king's seat after him? ^1:28Then King David in answer said, Send for Bath-sheba to come to me. And she came in and took her place before the king. ^1:29And the king took an oath, and said, By the living Lord, who has been my saviour from all my troubles, ^1:30As I took an oath to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, Certainly Solomon your son will become king after me, seated on my seat in my place; so will I do this day. ^1:31Then Bath-sheba went down on her face on the earth before the king giving him honour, and said, May my lord King David go on living for ever. ^1:32And King David said, Send for Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. ^1:33And the king said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and put Solomon my son on my beast, yes, mine, and take him down to Gihon; ^1:34And there let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet put the holy oil on him to make him king over Israel; and sounding the horn say, Long life to King Solomon! ^1:35Then come up after him and he will come in and take his place on the seat of my kingdom; for he is to be king in my place, and I have given orders that he is to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. ^1:36And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, answering the king, said, So be it: and may the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so. ^1:37As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon and make the seat of his authority greater than that of my lord King David. ^1:38So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down and put Solomon on King David's beast and took him to Gihon. ^1:39And Zadok the priest took the vessel of oil out of the Tent, and put the holy oil on Solomon. And when the horn was sounded, all the people said, Long life to King Solomon! ^1:40And all the people came up after him, piping with pipes, and they were glad with great joy, so that the earth was shaking with the sound. ^1:41And it came to the ears of Adonijah and all the guests who were with him, when their meal was ended. And Joab, hearing the sound of the horn, said, What is the reason of this noise as if the town was worked up? ^1:42And while the words were on his lips, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest, came; and Adonijah said, Come in; for you are a man of good faith and the news which you have for us will be good. ^1:43And Jonathan, answering, said to Adonijah, Not so, but our lord King David has made Solomon king: ^1:44And he sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they put him on the king's beast: ^1:45And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet put the holy oil on him and made him king in Gihon; and they came back from there with joy, and the town was all worked up. This is the noise which has come to your ears. ^1:46And now Solomon is seated on the seat of the kingdom. ^1:47And the king's servants came to our lord King David, blessing him and saying, May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and the seat of his authority greater than your seat; and the king was bent low in worship on his bed. ^1:48Then the king said, May the God of Israel be praised, who has given one of my seed to be king in my place this day and has let my eyes see it. ^1:49And all the guests of Adonijah got up in fear and went away, every man to his place. ^1:50And Adonijah himself was full of fear because of Solomon; and he got up and went to the altar, and put his hands on its horns. ^1:51And they gave Solomon word of it, saying, See, Adonijah goes in such fear of King Solomon, that he has put his hands on the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon first give me his oath that he will not put his servant to death with the sword. ^1:52And Solomon said, If he is seen to be a man of good faith, not a hair of him will be touched; but if any wrongdoing is seen in him, he is to be put to death. ^1:53So King Solomon sent, and they took him down from the altar. And he came and gave honour to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, Go to your house.

^2:1Now the time of David's death came near; and he gave orders to Solomon his son, saying, ^2:2I am going the way of all the earth: so be strong and be a man; ^2:3And keep the orders of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, keeping his laws and his orders and his rules and his words, as they are recorded in the law of Moses; so that you may do well in all you do and wherever you go, ^2:4So that the Lord may give effect to what he said of me, If your children give attention to their ways, living uprightly before me with all their heart and their soul, you will never be without a man to be king in Israel. ^2:5Now you have knowledge of what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, and to the two captains of the army of Israel, Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether, whom he put to death, taking payment for the blood of war in time of peace, and making the band of my clothing and the shoes on my feet red with the blood of one put to death without cause. ^2:6So be guided by your wisdom, and let not his white head go down to the underworld in peace. ^2:7But be good to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be guests at your table; for so they came to me when I went in flight from Absalom your brother. ^2:8Now you have with you Shimei, the son of Gera the Benjamite of Bahurim, who put a bitter curse on me on the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to see me at Jordan, and I gave him my oath by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death by the sword. ^2:9But do not let him be free from punishment, for you are a wise man; and it will be clear to you what you have to do with him; see that his white head goes down to the underworld in blood. ^2:10Then David went to rest with his fathers, and his body was put into the earth in the town of David. ^2:11David was king over Israel for forty years: for seven years he was king in Hebron and for thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ^2:12And Solomon took his place on the seat of David his father, and his kingdom was made safe and strong. ^2:13Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bath-sheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, Come you in peace? And he said, Yes, in peace. ^2:14Then he said, I have something to say to you. And she said, Say on. ^2:15And he said, You saw how the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had the idea that I would be their king; but now the kingdom is turned about, and has become my brother's, for it was given to him by the Lord. ^2:16Now I have one request to make to you, and do not say, No, to me. And she said to him, Say on. ^2:17Then he said, Will you go to Solomon the king (for he will not say, No, to you) and put before him my request that he will give me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife? ^2:18And Bath-sheba said, Good! I will make your request to the king. ^2:19So Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to have talk with him on Adonijah's account. And the king got up to come to her, and went down low to the earth before her; then he took his place on the king's seat and had a seat made ready for the king's mother and she took her place at his right hand. ^2:20Then she said, I have one small request to make to you; do not say, No, to me. And the king said, Say on, my mother, for I will not say, No, to you. ^2:21And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother for a wife. ^2:22Then King Solomon made answer and said to his mother, Why are you requesting me to give Abishag the Shunammite to Adonijah? Take the kingdom for him in addition, for he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, are on his side. ^2:23Then King Solomon took an oath by the Lord, saying, May God's punishment be on me if Adonijah does not give payment for these words with his life. ^2:24Now by the living Lord, who has given me my place on the seat of David my father, and made me one of a line of kings, as he gave me his word, truly Adonijah will be put to death this day. ^2:25And King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he made an attack on him and put him to death. ^2:26And to Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to Anathoth, to your fields; for death would be your right reward; but I will not put you to death now, because you took up the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and you were with him in all his troubles. ^2:27So Solomon let Abiathar be priest no longer, so that he might make the word of the Lord come true which he said about the sons of Eli in Shiloh. ^2:28And news of this came to Joab; for Joab had been one of Adonijah's supporters, though he had not been on Absalom's side. Then Joab went in flight to the Tent of the Lord, and put his hands on the horns of the altar. ^2:29And they said to King Solomon, Joab has gone in flight to the Tent of the Lord and is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, make an attack on him. ^2:30And Benaiah came to the Tent of the Lord and said to him, The king says, Come out. And he said, No; but let death come to me here. And Benaiah went back to the king and gave him word of the answer which Joab had given. ^2:31And the king said, Do as he has said and make an attack on him there, and put his body into the earth; so that you may take away from me and from my family the blood of one put to death by Joab without cause. ^2:32And the Lord will send back his blood on his head, because of the attack he made on two men more upright and better than himself, putting them to the sword without my father's knowledge; even Abner, the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. ^2:33So their blood will be on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed for ever; but for David and his seed and his family and the seat of his kingdom, there will be peace for ever from the Lord. ^2:34So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up, and falling on him, put him to death; and his body was put to rest in his house in the waste land. ^2:35And the king put Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, in his place over the army; and Zadok the priest he put in the place of Abiathar. ^2:36Then the king sent for Shimei, and said to him, Make a house for yourself in Jerusalem and keep there and go to no other place. ^2:37For be certain that on the day when you go out and go over the stream Kidron, death will overtake you: and your blood will be on your head. ^2:38And Shimei said to the king, Very well! as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. And for a long time Shimei went on living in Jerusalem. ^2:39But after three years, two of the servants of Shimei went in flight to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And word was given to Shimei that his servants had gone to Gath. ^2:40Then Shimei got up, and making ready his ass, he went to Gath, to Achish, in search of his servants; and he sent and got them from Gath. ^2:41And news was given to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back again. ^2:42Then the king sent for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make you take an oath by the Lord, protesting to you and saying, Be certain that on the day when you go out from here, wherever you go, death will overtake you? and you said to me, Very well! ^2:43Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the order which I gave you? ^2:44And the king said to Shimei, You have knowledge of all the evil which you did to David my father; and now the Lord has sent back your evil on yourself. ^2:45But a blessing will be on King Solomon, and the kingdom of David will keep its place before the Lord for ever. ^2:46So the king gave orders to Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and, falling on him, put him to death. And Solomon's authority over the kingdom was complete.

^3:1Solomon became the son-in-law of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife, keeping her in the town of David, till the house he was building for himself, and the house of the Lord and the wall round Jerusalem, were complete. ^3:2But all this time the people were making their offerings in the high places, because no house had been put up to the name of the Lord till those days. ^3:3And Solomon, in his love for the Lord, kept the laws of David his father; but he made offerings and let them go up in smoke on the high places. ^3:4And the king went to Gibeon to make an offering there, because that was the chief high place: it was Solomon's way to make a thousand burned offerings on that altar. ^3:5In Gibeon, Solomon had a vision of the Lord in a dream by night; and God said to him, Say what I am to give you. ^3:6And Solomon said, Great was your mercy to David my father, as his life before you was true and upright and his heart was true to you; and you have kept for him this greatest mercy, a son to take his place this day. ^3:7And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; and I am only a young boy, with no knowledge of how to go out or come in. ^3:8And your servant has round him the people of your selection, a people so great that they may not be numbered, and no account of them may be given. ^3:9Give your servant, then, a wise heart for judging your people, able to see what is good and what evil; for who is able to be the judge of this great people? ^3:10Now these words and Solomon's request were pleasing to the Lord. ^3:11And God said to him, Because your request is for this thing, and not for long life for yourself or for wealth or for the destruction of your haters, but for wisdom to be a judge of causes; ^3:12I have done as you said: I have given you a wise and far-seeing heart, so that there has never been your equal in the past, and never will there be any like you in the future. ^3:13And with this I have given you what you made no request for: wealth and honour, so that no king was ever your equal. ^3:14And if you go on in my ways, keeping my laws and my orders as your father David did, I will give you a long life. ^3:15And Solomon, awakening, saw that it was a dream; then he came to Jerusalem, where he went before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings; and he made a feast for all his servants. ^3:16Then two loose women of the town came and took their places before the king; ^3:17And one of them said, O my lord, I and this woman are living in the same house; and I gave birth to a child by her side in the house. ^3:18And three days after the birth of my child, this woman had a child: we were together, no other-person was with us in the house but we two only. ^3:19In the night, this woman, sleeping on her child, was the cause of its death. ^3:20And she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was sleeping; and she took it in her arms and put her dead child in my arms. ^3:21And when I got up to give my child the breast, I saw that it was dead; but in the morning, looking at it with care, I saw that it was not my son. ^3:22And the other woman said, No; but the living child is my son and the dead one yours. But the first said, No; the dead child is your son and the living one mine. So they kept on talking before the king. ^3:23Then the king said, One says, The living child is my son, and yours is the dead: and the other says, Not so; but your son is the dead one and mine is the living. ^3:24Then he said, Get me a sword. So they went and put a sword before the king. ^3:25And the king said, Let the living child be cut in two and one half given to one woman and one to the other. ^3:26Then the mother of the living child came forward, for her heart went out to her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the child; do not on any account put it to death. But the other woman said, It will not be mine or yours; let it be cut in two. ^3:27Then the king made answer and said, Give her the child, and do not put it to death; she is the mother of it. ^3:28And news of this decision which the king had made went through all Israel; and they had fear of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to give decisions.

^4:1Now Solomon was king over all Israel. ^4:2And these were his chief men: Azariah, the son of Zadok, was the priest; ^4:3Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the recorder; ^4:4Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was head of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ^4:5Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over those in authority in the different divisions of the country; Zabud, the son of Nathan, was priest and the king's friend; ^4:6Ahishar was controller of the king's house; Adoniram, the son of Abda, was overseer of the forced work. ^4:7And Solomon put twelve overseers over all Israel, to be responsible for the stores needed for the king and those of his house; every man was responsible for one month in the year. ^4:8And these are their names: ... the son of Hur in the hill country of Ephraim; ^4:9... the son of Deker in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; ^4:10... the son of Hesed in Arubboth; Socoh and all the land of Hepher were under his control; ^4:11... the son of Abinadab in all Naphath-dor; his wife was Taphath, the daughter of Solomon. ^4:12Baana, the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is by the side of Zarethan, under Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the far side of Jokmeam; ^4:13... the son of Geber in Ramoth-gilead; he had the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and the country of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great towns with walls and locks of brass. ^4:14Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ^4:15Ahimaaz in Naphtali; he took Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, as his wife; ^4:16Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; ^4:17Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ^4:18Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ^4:19Geber, the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan; and one overseer had authority over all the overseers who were in the land. ^4:20Judah and Israel were as great in number as the sand by the seaside, and they took their food and drink with joy in their hearts. ^4:21And Solomon was ruler over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the edge of Egypt; men gave him offerings and were his servants all the days of his life. ^4:22And the amount of Solomon's food for one day was thirty measures of crushed grain and sixty measures of meal; ^4:23Ten fat oxen and twenty oxen from the fields, and a hundred sheep, in addition to harts and gazelles and roes and fat fowls. ^4:24For he had authority over all the country on this side of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace round him on every side. ^4:25So Judah and Israel were living safely, every man under his vine and his fig-tree, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. ^4:26And Solomon had four thousand boxed-off spaces for horses for his carriages, and twelve thousand horsemen. ^4:27And those overseers, every man in his month, saw that food was produced for Solomon and all his guests, they took care that nothing was overlooked. ^4:28And they took grain and dry grass for the horses and the carriage-horses, to the right place, every man as he was ordered. ^4:29And God gave Solomon a great store of wisdom and good sense, and a mind of wide range, as wide as the sand by the seaside. ^4:30And Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. ^4:31For he was wiser than all men, even than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman and Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and he had a great name among all the nations round about. ^4:32He was the maker of three thousand wise sayings, and of songs to the number of a thousand and five. ^4:33He made sayings about all plants, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop hanging on the wall; and about all beasts and birds and fishes and the small things of the earth. ^4:34People came from every nation to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had word of his wisdom.

^5:1Now Hiram, king of Tyre, hearing that Solomon had been made king in place of his father, sent his servants to him; for Hiram had ever been a friend to David. ^5:2And Solomon sent back word to Hiram, saying, ^5:3You have knowledge that David my father was not able to make a house for the name of the Lord his God, because of the wars which were round him on every side, till the Lord put all those who were against him under his feet. ^5:4But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; no one is making trouble, and no evil is taking place. ^5:5And so it is my purpose to make a house for the name of the Lord my God, as he said to David my father, Your son, whom I will make king in your place, will be the builder of a house for my name. ^5:6So now, will you have cedar-trees from Lebanon cut down for me, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you payment for your servants at whatever rate you say; for it is common knowledge that we have no such wood-cutters among us as the men of Zidon. ^5:7And these words of Solomon made Hiram glad, and he said, Now may the Lord be praised who has given to David a wise son to be king over this great people. ^5:8Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying; The words you sent have been given to me: I will do all your desire in the question of cedar-wood and cypress-wood. ^5:9My men will take them down from Lebanon to the sea, where I will have them corded together to go by sea to whatever place you say, and I will have them cut up there so that you may take them away; as for payment, it will be enough if you give me food for my people. ^5:10So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar-wood and cypress-wood he had need of; ^5:11And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of grain, as food for his people, and twenty measures of clear oil; this he did every year. ^5:12Now the Lord had given Solomon wisdom, as he had said to him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made an agreement together. ^5:13Then King Solomon got together men for the forced work through all Israel, thirty thousand men in number; ^5:14And sent them to Lebanon in bands of ten thousand every month: for a month they were working in Lebanon and for two months in their country, and Adoniram was in control of them. ^5:15Then he had seventy thousand for the work of transport, and eighty thousand stone-cutters in the mountains; ^5:16In addition to the chiefs of the responsible men put by Solomon to oversee the work, three thousand and three hundred in authority over the workmen. ^5:17By the king's orders great stones, stones of high price, were cut out, so that the base of the house might be made of squared stone. ^5:18Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did the work of cutting them, and put edges on them, and got the wood and the stone ready for the building of the house.

^6:1In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year that Solomon was king of Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, the building of the Lord's house was started. ^6:2The house which Solomon made for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. ^6:3The covered way before the Temple of the house was twenty cubits long, as wide as the house, and ten cubits wide in front of the house. ^6:4And for the house he made windows, with network across. ^6:5And against the walls all round, and against the walls of the Temple and of the inmost room, he put up wings, with side rooms all round: ^6:6The lowest line of them being five cubits wide, the middle six cubits wide and the third seven cubits; for there was a space all round the outside walls of the house so that the boards supporting the rooms did not have to be fixed in the walls of the house. ^6:7(And the stones used in the building of the house were squared at the place where they were cut out; there was no sound of hammer or axe or any iron instrument while they were building the house.) ^6:8The door to the lowest side rooms was in the right side of the house; and they went up by twisting steps into the middle rooms, and from the middle into the third. ^6:9So he put up the house and made it complete, roofing it with boards of cedar-wood. ^6:10And he put up the line of side rooms against the walls of the house, fifteen cubits high, resting against the house on boards of cedar-wood. ^6:11(And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ^6:12About this house which you are building: if you will keep my laws and give effect to my decisions and be guided by my rules, I will give effect to my word which I gave to David your father. ^6:13And I will be ever among the children of Israel, and will not go away from my people. ^6:14So Solomon made the building of the house complete.) ^6:15The walls of the house were covered inside with cedar-wood boards; from the floor to the roof of the house they were covered inside with wood; and the floor was covered with boards of cypress-wood. ^6:16And at the back of the house a further space of twenty cubits was shut in with boards of cedar-wood, for the inmost room. ^6:17And the house, that is, the Temple, in front of the holy place was forty cubits long. ^6:18(All the inside of the house was cedar-wood, ornamented with designs of buds and flowers; no stonework was to be seen inside.) ^6:19And he made ready an inmost room in the middle of the house, in which to put the ark of the agreement of the Lord. ^6:20And the inmost room was twenty cubits square and twenty cubits high, plated over with clear gold, and he made an altar of cedar-wood, plating it with gold. ^6:21Solomon had all the inside of the house covered with gold, and he put chains of gold across in front of the inmost room, which itself was covered with gold. ^6:22Plates of gold were put all through the house till it was covered completely (and the altar in the inmost room was all covered with gold). ^6:23In the inmost room he made two winged beings of olive-wood, ten cubits high; ^6:24With outstretched wings five cubits wide; the distance from the edge of one wing to the edge of the other was ten cubits. ^6:25The two winged ones were ten cubits high, of the same size and form. ^6:26The two of them were ten cubits high. ^6:27These were placed inside the inner house, their outstretched wings touching the walls of the house, one touching one wall and one the other, while their other wings were touching in the middle. ^6:28These winged ones were plated over with gold. ^6:29And all the walls of the house inside and out were ornamented with forms of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers. ^6:30And the floor of the house was covered with gold, inside and out. ^6:31For the way into the inmost room he made doors of olive-wood, the arch and the door supports forming a five-sided opening. ^6:32On the olive-wood doors were cut designs of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers, all of them, with the doors, plated with gold. ^6:33Then he made pillars of olive-wood for the way into the Temple; the pillars were square: ^6:34And two folding doors of cypress-wood, with two leaves. ^6:35These were ornamented with designs of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers, plated over with gold. ^6:36And the inner space was walled with three lines of squared stones and a line of cedar-wood boards. ^6:37In the fourth year the base of the house was put in its place, in the month Ziv. ^6:38And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the building of the house was complete in every detail, as it had been designed. So he was seven years building it.

^7:1Solomon was thirteen years building a house for himself till it was complete. ^7:2And he made the house of the Woods of Lebanon, which was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high, resting on four lines of cedar-wood pillars with cedar-wood supports on the pillars. ^7:3And it was covered with cedar over the forty-five supports which were on the pillars, fifteen in a line. ^7:4There were three lines of window-frames, window facing window in every line. ^7:5And all the doors and windows had square frames, with the windows facing one another in three lines. ^7:6And he made a covered room of pillars, fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, and ... with steps before it. ^7:7Then he made a covered room for his high seat when he gave decisions; this was the covered room of judging; it was covered with cedar-wood from floor to roof. ^7:8And the house for his living-place, the other open square in the covered room, was made in the same way. And then he made a house like it for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had taken as his wife. ^7:9All these buildings were made, inside and out, from base to crowning stone, and outside to the great walled square, of highly priced stone, cut to different sizes with cutting-instruments. ^7:10And the base was of great masses of highly priced stone, some ten cubits and some eight cubits square. ^7:11Overhead were highly priced stones cut to measure, and cedar-wood. ^7:12The great outer square all round was walled with three lines of squared stones and a line of cedar-wood boards, round about the open square inside the house of the Lord and the covered room of the king's house. ^7:13Then King Solomon sent and got Hiram from Tyre. ^7:14He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; he was full of wisdom and knowledge and an expert worker in brass. He came to King Solomon and did all his work for him. ^7:15He it was who made the two brass pillars; the first pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits went round it; and the second was the same. ^7:16And he made the two crowns to be put on the tops of the pillars, of brass made soft in the fire; the crowns were five cubits high. ^7:17There were nets of open-work for the crowns on the tops of the pillars, a net of open-work for one and a net of open-work for the other. ^7:18And he made ornaments of apples; and two lines of apples all round over the network, covering the crowns of the pillars, the two crowns in the same way. ^7:19The crowns on the tops of the pillars were ornamented with a design of flowers, and were four cubits across. ^7:20And there were crowns on the two pillars near the round part by the network, and there were two hundred apples in lines round every crown. ^7:21He put up the pillars at the doorway of the Temple, naming the one on the right Jachin, and that on the left Boaz. ^7:22The tops of the pillars had a design of flowers; and the work of making the pillars was complete. ^7:23And he made a great metal water-vessel ten cubits across from edge to edge, five cubits high and thirty cubits round. ^7:24And under the edge of it, circling it all round for ten cubits, were two lines of flower buds, made together with it from liquid metal. ^7:25It was supported on twelve oxen, with their back parts turned to the middle of it, three of them facing to the north, three to the west, three to the south, and three to the east; the vessel was resting on top of them. ^7:26It was as thick as a man's open hand, and was curved like the edge of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it would take two thousand baths. ^7:27And he made ten wheeled bases of brass; every one four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. ^7:28And the bases were made in this way; their sides were square, fixed in a framework; ^7:29And on the square sides between the frames were lions, oxen, and winged ones; and the same on the frame; and over and under the lions and the oxen and the winged ones were steps. ^7:30Every base had four wheels of brass, turning on brass rods, and their four angles had angle-plates under them; the angle-plates under the base were of metal, and there were ornaments at the side of every one. ^7:31The mouth of it inside the angle-plate was one cubit across; it was round like a pillar, a cubit and a half across; it had designs cut on it; the sides were square, not round. ^7:32The four wheels were under the frames, and the rods on which the wheels were fixed were in the base; the wheels were a cubit and a half high. ^7:33The wheels were made like carriage-wheels, the rods on which they were fixed, the parts forming their edges, their rods and the middle points of them, were all formed out of liquid metal. ^7:34And there were four angle-plates at the four angles of every base, forming part of the structure of the base. ^7:35And at the top of the base there was a round vessel, half a cubit high; ^7:36In the spaces of the flat sides and on the frames of them, he made designs of winged ones, lions, and palm-trees, with ornamented edges all round. ^7:37All the ten bases were made in this way, after the same design, of the same size and form. ^7:38And he made ten brass washing-vessels, everyone taking forty baths, and measuring four cubits; one vessel was placed on every one of the ten bases. ^7:39And he put the bases by the house, five on the right side and five on the left; and he put the great water-vessel on the right side of the house, to the east, facing south. ^7:40And Hiram made the pots and spades and the basins. So Hiram came to the end of all the work he did for King Solomon in the house of the Lord: ^7:41The two pillars and the two cups of the crowns which were on the tops of the two pillars; and the network covering the two cups of the crowns on the tops of the pillars, ^7:42And the four hundred apples for the network, two lines of apples for every network, covering the two cups of the crowns on the pillars; ^7:43And the ten bases, with the ten washing-vessels on them; ^7:44And the great water-vessel, with the twelve oxen under it; ^7:45And the pots and the spades and the basins; all the vessels which Hiram made for King Solomon, for the house of the Lord, were of polished brass. ^7:46He made them of liquid metal in the lowland of Jordan, at the way across the river, at Adama, between Succoth and Zarethan. ^7:47The weight of all these vessels was not measured, because there was such a number of them; it was not possible to get the weight of the brass. ^7:48And Solomon had all the vessels made for use in the house of the Lord: the altar of gold and the gold table on which the holy bread was placed; ^7:49And the supports for the lights, five on the right side and five on the left before the inmost room, of clear gold; and the flowers and the lights and all the instruments of gold; ^7:50And the cups and the scissors and the basins and the spoons and the fire-trays, all of gold; and the pins on which the doors were turned, the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and the doors of the Temple, all of gold. ^7:51So all the work King Solomon had done in the house of the Lord was complete. Then Solomon took the holy things which David his father had given, the silver and the gold and all the vessels, and put them in the store-houses of the house of the Lord.

^8:1Then Solomon sent for all the responsible men of Israel, and all the chiefs of the tribes, and the heads of families of the children of Israel, to come to him in Jerusalem to take the ark of the Lord's agreement up out of the town of David, which is Zion. ^8:2And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, the seventh month. ^8:3And all the responsible men of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. ^8:4They took up the ark of the Lord, and the Tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels which were in the Tent; all these the priests and the Levites took up. ^8:5And King Solomon and all the men of Israel who had come together there, were with him before the ark, making offerings of sheep and oxen more than might be numbered. ^8:6And the priests took the ark of the agreement of the Lord and put it in its place in the inner room of the house, in the most holy place, under the wings of the winged ones. ^8:7For their wings were outstretched over the place where the ark was, covering the ark and its rods. ^8:8The rods were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place, in front of the inmost room; but they were not seen from outside: and there they are to this day. ^8:9There was nothing in the ark but the two flat stones which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made an agreement with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. ^8:10Now when the priests had come out of the holy place, the house of the Lord was full of the cloud, ^8:11So that the priests were not able to keep their places to do their work because of the cloud, for the house of the Lord was full of the glory of the Lord. ^8:12Then Solomon said, O Lord, to the sun you have given the heaven for a living-place, but your living-place was not seen by men; ^8:13So I have made for you a living-place, a house in which you may be for ever present. ^8:14Then, turning his face about, the king gave a blessing to all the men of Israel; and they were all on their feet together. ^8:15And he said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who himself gave his word to David my father, and with his strong hand has made his word come true, saying, ^8:16From the day when I took my people Israel out of Egypt, no town in all the tribes of Israel has been marked out by me for the building of a house for the resting-place of my name; but I made selection of David to be king over my people Israel. ^8:17Now it was in the heart of David my father to put up a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ^8:18But the Lord said to David my father, You did well to have in your heart the desire to make a house for my name; ^8:19But you yourself will not be the builder of my house; but your son, the offspring of your body, he it is who will put up a house for my name. ^8:20And the Lord has made his word come true; for I have taken my father David's place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel, as the Lord gave his word; and I have made a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ^8:21In it I have made a place for the ark, in which is the agreement which the Lord made with our fathers, when he took them out of the land of Egypt. ^8:22Then Solomon took his place before the altar of the Lord, all the men of Israel being present, and stretching out his hands to heaven, ^8:23Said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on the earth; keeping faith and mercy unchanging for your servants, while they go in your ways with all their hearts. ^8:24And you have kept the word which you gave to your servant David, my father; with your mouth you said it and with your hand you have made it come true this day. ^8:25So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let your word to your servant David, my father, come true, when you said, You will never be without a man to take his place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel before me, if only your children give attention to their ways, walking before me as you have done. ^8:26So now, O God of Israel, it is my prayer that you will make your word come true which you said to your servant David, my father. ^8:27But is it truly possible that God may be housed on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place; how much less this house which I have made! ^8:28Still, let your heart be turned to the prayer of your servant, O Lord God, and to his prayer for grace; give ear to the cry and the prayer which your servant sends up to you this day; ^8:29That your eyes may be open to this house night and day, to this place of which you have said, My name will be there; hearing the prayer which your servant may make, turning to this place. ^8:30Give ear to the prayers of your servant, and the prayers of your people Israel, when they make their prayers, turning to this place; give ear in heaven your living-place, and hearing, have mercy. ^8:31If a man does wrong to his neighbour, and has to take an oath, and comes before your altar to take his oath in this house: ^8:32Then let your ear be open in heaven, and be the judge of your servants, giving your decision against the wrongdoer, so that punishment for his sins may come on his head; and, by your decision, keeping from evil him who has done no wrong. ^8:33When your people Israel are overcome in war, because of their sin against you; if they are turned to you again, honouring your name, making prayers to you and requesting your grace in this house: ^8:34Then give ear in heaven, and let the sin of your people Israel have forgiveness, and take them back again into the land which you gave to their fathers. ^8:35When heaven is shut up and there is no rain, because of their sin against you; if they make prayers with their faces turned to this place, honouring your name and turning away from their sin when you send trouble on them: ^8:36Then give ear in heaven, so that the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, may have forgiveness, when you make clear to them the good way in which they are to go; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for their heritage. ^8:37If there is no food in the land, or if there is disease, or if the fruits of the earth are damaged through heat or water, locust or worm; if their towns are shut in by their attackers; whatever trouble, whatever disease there may be: ^8:38Whatever prayer or request for your grace is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, whatever his trouble may be, whose hands are stretched out to this house: ^8:39Give ear in heaven your living-place, acting in mercy; and give to every man whose secret heart is open to you, the reward of all his ways; for you, and you only, have knowledge of the hearts of all the children of men: ^8:40So that they may give you worship all the days of their life in the land which you gave to our fathers. ^8:41And as for the man from a strange land, who is not of your people Israel; when he comes from a far country because of the glory of your name: ^8:42(For they will have news of your great name and your strong hand and your out-stretched arm;) when he comes to make his prayer, turning to this house: ^8:43Give ear in heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and that they may see that this house which I have put up is truly named by your name. ^8:44If your people go out to war against their attackers, by whatever way you may send them, if they make their prayer to the Lord, turning their faces to this town of yours and to this house which I have made for your name: ^8:45Give ear in heaven to their prayer and their cry for grace, and see right done to them. ^8:46If they do wrong against you, (for no man is without sin,) and you are angry with them and give them up into the power of those who are fighting against them, so that they take them away as prisoners into a strange land, far off or near; ^8:47And if they take thought, in the land where they are prisoners, and are turned again to you, crying out in prayer to you in that land, and saying, We are sinners, we have done wrong, we have done evil; ^8:48And with all their heart and soul are turned again to you, in the land of those who took them prisoners, and make their prayer to you, turning their eyes to this land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I made for your name: ^8:49Then give ear to their prayer and to their cry in heaven your living-place, and see right done to them; ^8:50Answering with forgiveness the people who have done wrong against you, and overlooking the evil which they have done against you; let those who made them prisoners be moved with pity for them, and have pity on them; ^8:51For they are your people and your heritage, which you took out of Egypt, out of the iron fireplace; ^8:52Let your eyes be open to your servant's prayer for grace and to the prayer of your people Israel, hearing them when their cry comes to you. ^8:53For you made them separate from all the peoples of the earth, to be your heritage, as you said by Moses your servant, when you took our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. ^8:54Then Solomon, after making all these prayers and requests for grace to the Lord, got up from his knees before the altar of the Lord, where his hands had been stretched out in prayer to heaven; ^8:55And, getting on his feet, he gave a blessing to all the men of Israel, saying with a loud voice, ^8:56Praise be to the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, as he gave them his word to do; every word of all his oath, which he gave by the hand of Moses his servant, has come true. ^8:57Now may the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; let him never go away from us or give us up; ^8:58Turning our hearts to himself, guiding us to go in all his ways, to keep his orders and his laws and his decisions, which he gave to our fathers. ^8:59And may these my words, the words of my prayer to the Lord, be before the Lord our God day and night, so that he may see right done to his servant and to his people Israel, day by day as we have need. ^8:60So that all the peoples of the earth may see that the Lord is God, and there is no other. ^8:61Then let your hearts be without sin before the Lord our God, walking in his laws and keeping his orders as at this day. ^8:62Now the king, and all Israel with him, were making offerings before the Lord. ^8:63And Solomon gave to the Lord for peace-offerings, twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel kept the feast of the opening of the Lord's house. ^8:64The same day the king made holy the middle of the open square in front of the house of the Lord, offering there the burned offering and the meal offering and the fat of the peace-offerings; for there was not room on the brass altar of the Lord for the burned offerings and the meal offerings and the fat of the peace-offerings. ^8:65So Solomon and all Israel with him, a very great meeting, (for the people had come together from the way into Hamath to the river of Egypt,) kept the feast at that time before the Lord our God, for two weeks, even fourteen days. ^8:66And on the eighth day he sent the people away, and, blessing the king, they went to their tents full of joy and glad in their hearts, because of all the good which the Lord had done to David his servant and to Israel his people.

^9:1Now when Solomon came to the end of building the house of the Lord and the king's house, and all Solomon's desires, which he had in mind were effected; ^9:2The Lord came to him again in a vision, as he had done at Gibeon; ^9:3And the Lord said to him, Your prayers and your requests for grace have come to my ears: I have made holy this house which you have made, and I have put my name there for ever; my eyes and my heart will be there at all times. ^9:4As for you, if you will go on your way before me, as David your father did, uprightly and with a true heart, doing what I have given you orders to do, keeping my laws and my decisions; ^9:5Then I will make the seat of your rule over Israel certain for ever, as I gave my word to David your father, saying, You will never be without a man to be king in Israel. ^9:6But if you are turned from my ways, you or your children, and do not keep my orders and my laws which I have put before you, but go and make yourselves servants to other gods and give them worship: ^9:7Then I will have Israel cut off from the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for myself, I will put away from before my eyes; and Israel will be a public example, and a word of shame among all peoples. ^9:8And this house will become a mass of broken walls, and everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder at it and make whistling sounds; and they will say, Why has the Lord done so to this land and to this house? ^9:9And their answer will be, Because they were turned away from the Lord their God, who took their fathers out of the land of Egypt; they took for themselves other gods and gave them worship and became their servants: that is why the Lord has sent all this evil on them. ^9:10Now at the end of twenty years, in which time Solomon had put up the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's house, ^9:11(Hiram, king of Tyre, had given Solomon cedar-trees and cypress-trees and gold, as much as he had need of,) King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the land of Galilee. ^9:12But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns which Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ^9:13And he said, What sort of towns are these which you have given me, my brother? So they were named the land of Cabul, to this day. ^9:14And Hiram sent the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold. ^9:15Now, this was the way of Solomon's system of forced work for the building of the Lord's house and of the king's house, and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Megiddo and Gezer. ... ^9:16Pharaoh, king of Egypt, came and took Gezer, burning it down and putting to death the Canaanites living in the town, and he gave it for a bride-offering to his daughter, Solomon's wife. ... ^9:17... and Solomon was the builder of Gezer and Beth-horon the lower, ^9:18And Baalath and Tamar in the waste land, in that land; ^9:19And all the store-towns and the towns which Solomon had for his war-carriages and for his horsemen, and everything which it was his pleasure to put up in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land under his rule. ^9:20As for the rest of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not children of Israel; ^9:21Their children who were still in the land, and whom the children of Israel had not been able to put to complete destruction, them did Solomon put to forced work, to this day. ^9:22But Solomon did not put the children of Israel to forced work; they were the men of war, his servants, his captains, and his chiefs, captains of his war-carriages and of his horsemen. ^9:23These were the chiefs of the overseers of Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, in authority over the people who did the work. ^9:24At that time Solomon made Pharaoh's daughter come up from the town of David to the house which he had made for her: then he made the Millo. ^9:25Three times in the year it was Solomon's way to give burned offerings and peace-offerings on the altar he had made to the Lord, causing his fire-offering to go up on the altar before the Lord. ^9:26And King Solomon made a sea-force of ships in Ezion-geber, by Eloth, on the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ^9:27Hiram sent his servants, who were experienced seamen, in the sea-force with Solomon's men. ^9:28And they came to Ophir, where they got four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and took it back to King Solomon.

^10:1Now the queen of Sheba, hearing great things of Solomon, came to put his wisdom to the test with hard questions. ^10:2And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels weighted down with spices, and stores of gold and jewels: and when she came to Solomon she had talk with him of everything in her mind. ^10:3And Solomon gave her answers to all her questions; there was no secret which the king did not make clear to her. ^10:4And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had made, ^10:5And the food at his table, and all his servants seated there, and those who were waiting on him in their places, and their robes, and his wine-servants, and the burned offerings which he made in the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. ^10:6And she said to the king, The account which was given to me in my country of your acts and your wisdom was true. ^10:7But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and now I see that it was not half the story; your wisdom and your wealth are much greater than they said. ^10:8Happy are your wives, happy are these your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom. ^10:9May the Lord your God be praised, whose pleasure it was to put you on the seat of the kingdom of Israel; because the Lord's love for Israel is eternal, he has made you king, to be their judge in righteousness. ^10:10And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never again was such a wealth of spices seen as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon. ^10:11And the sea-force of Hiram, in addition to gold from Ophir, came back with much sandal-wood and jewels. ^10:12And from the sandal-wood the king made pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, and instruments of music for the makers of melody: never has such sandal-wood been seen to this day. ^10:13And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what he gave her freely from the impulse of his heart. So she went back to her country, she and her servants. ^10:14Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents; ^10:15In addition to what came to him from the business of the traders, and from all the kings of the Arabians, and from the rulers of the country. ^10:16And Solomon made two hundred body-covers of hammered gold, every one having six hundred shekels of gold in it. ^10:17And he made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold, with three pounds of gold in every cover: and the king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon. ^10:18Then the king made a great ivory seat, plated with the best gold. ^10:19There were six steps going up to it, and the top of it was round at the back, there were arms on the two sides of the seat, and two lions by the side of the arms; ^10:20And twelve lions were placed on the one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom. ^10:21And all King Solomon's drinking-vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the Woods of Lebanon were of the best gold; not one was of silver, for no one gave a thought to silver in the days of King Solomon. ^10:22For the king had Tarshish-ships at sea with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the Tarshish-ships came with gold and silver and ivory and monkeys and peacocks. ^10:23And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom. ^10:24And from all over the earth they came to see Solomon and to give ear to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ^10:25And everyone took with him an offering, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses, and beasts of transport, regularly year by year. ^10:26And Solomon got together war-carriages and horsemen; he had one thousand, four hundred carriages and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he kept, some in the carriage-towns and some with the king at Jerusalem. ^10:27And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem and cedars like the sycamore-trees of the lowlands in number. ^10:28And Solomon's horses came from Egypt and from Kue; the king's traders got them at a price from Kue. ^10:29A war-carriage might be got from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; they got them at the same rate for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

^11:1Now a number of strange women were loved by Solomon, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: ^11:2The nations of which the Lord had said to the children of Israel, You are not to take wives from them and they are not to take wives from you; or they will certainly make you go after their gods: to these Solomon was united in love. ^11:3He had seven hundred wives, daughters of kings, and three hundred other wives; and through his wives his heart was turned away. ^11:4For it came about that when Solomon was old, his heart was turned away to other gods by his wives; and his heart was no longer true to the Lord his God as the heart of his father David had been. ^11:5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and Milcom, the disgusting god of the Ammonites. ^11:6And Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not walking in the Lord's ways with all his heart as David his father did. ^11:7Then Solomon put up a high place for Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, in the mountain before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the disgusting god worshipped by the children of Ammon. ^11:8And so he did for all his strange wives, who made offerings with burning of perfumes to their gods. ^11:9And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had twice come to him in a vision; ^11:10And had given him orders about this very thing, that he was not to go after other gods; but he did not keep the orders of the Lord. ^11:11So the Lord said to Solomon, Because you have done this, and have not kept my agreement and my laws, which I gave you, I will take the kingdom away from you by force and will give it to your servant. ^11:12I will not do it in your life-time, because of your father David, but I will take it from your son. ^11:13Still I will not take all the kingdom from him; but I will give one tribe to your son, because of my servant David, and because of Jerusalem, the town of my selection. ^11:14So the Lord sent Hadad the Edomite to make trouble for Solomon: he was of the king's seed in Edom. ^11:15And when David had sent destruction on Edom, and Joab, the captain of the army, had gone to put the dead into the earth, and had put to death every male in Edom; ^11:16(For Joab and all Israel were there six months till every male in Edom had been cut off;) ^11:17Hadad, being still a young boy, went in flight to Egypt, with certain Edomites, servants of his father; ^11:18And they went on from Midian and came to Paran; and, taking men from Paran with them, they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who gave him a house and gave orders for his food and gave him land. ^11:19Now Hadad was very pleasing to Pharaoh, so that he gave him the sister of his wife, Tahpenes the queen, for his wife. ^11:20And the sister of Tahpenes had a son by him, Genubath, whom Tahpenes took care of in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was living in Pharaoh's house among Pharaoh's sons. ^11:21Now when Hadad had news in Egypt that David had been put to rest with his fathers, and that Joab, the captain of the army, was dead, he said to Pharaoh, Send me back to my country. ^11:22But Pharaoh said to him, What have you been short of while you have been with me, that you are desiring to go back to your country? And he said, Nothing; but even so, send me back. ^11:23And God sent another trouble-maker, Rezon, the son of Eliada, who had gone in flight from his lord, Hadadezer, king of Zobah: ^11:24He got some men together and made himself captain of a band of outlaws; and went to Damascus and became king there. ^11:25He was a trouble to Israel all through the days of Solomon. And this is the damage Hadad did: he was cruel to Israel while he was ruler over Edom. ^11:26And there was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was Zeruah, a widow; and his hand was lifted up against the king. ^11:27The way in which his hand came to be lifted up against the king was this: Solomon was building the Millo and making good the damaged parts of the town of his father David; ^11:28And Jeroboam was an able and responsible man; and Solomon saw that he was a good worker and made him overseer of all the work given to the sons of Joseph. ^11:29Now at that time, when Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite came across him on the road; now Ahijah had put on a new robe; and the two of them were by themselves in the open country. ^11:30And Ahijah took his new robe in his hands, parting it violently into twelve. ^11:31And he said to Jeroboam, Take ten of the parts, for this is what the Lord has said: See, I will take the kingdom away from Solomon by force, and will give ten tribes to you; ^11:32(But one tribe will be his, because of my servant David, and because of Jerusalem, the town which, out of all the tribes of Israel, I have made mine,) ^11:33Because they are turned away from me to the worship of Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and Chemosh, the god of Moab, and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites; they have not been walking in my ways or doing what is right in my eyes or keeping my laws and my decisions as his father David did. ^11:34But I will not take the kingdom from him; I will let him be king all the days of his life, because of David my servant, in whom I took delight because he kept my orders and my laws. ^11:35But I will take the kingdom from his son, and give it to you. ^11:36And one tribe I will give to his son, so that David my servant may have a light for ever burning before me in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine to put my name there. ^11:37And you I will take, and you will be king over Israel, ruling over whatever is the desire of your soul. ^11:38And if you give attention to the orders I give you, walking in my ways and doing what is right in my eyes and keeping my laws and my orders as David my servant did; then I will be with you, building up for you a safe house, as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you. ^11:39(So that I may send trouble for this on the seed of David, but not for ever.) ^11:40And Solomon was looking for a chance to put Jeroboam to death; but he went in flight to Egypt, to Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till the death of Solomon. ^11:41Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all he did, and his wisdom, are they not recorded in the book of the acts of Solomon? ^11:42And the time Solomon was king in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ^11:43And Solomon went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in the town of David his father: and Solomon went to rest with his fathers and Rehoboam his son became king in his place.