5 It was at this time that Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared a chariot for himself and horsemen and fifty men to run before him. 6 His father had never crossed him, asking, "Why have you done this?" He was a very handsome man and had been born after Absalom.

7 He had conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest, and they helped him. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. 9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called together all the king's sons, his brothers, and all the men of Judah, and the king's servants. 10 He did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men or Solomon his brother. 11 Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, saying "Have you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and that David our lord does not know of it?" 12 "You can yet save your life and the life of Solomon your son." 13 "Go at once to the king and ask him if he did not swear to you that Solomon would surely be king after him and sit on his throne? Why then has Adonijah become king?" 14 "While you are speaking with the king I will come in and confirm your words."

15 So Bathsheba went in to the king in his bedroom. He was very old and Abishag was ministering to him. 16 Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself before the king. And the king said, "What do you wish?" 17 She said to him, "My lord, you swore to your maidservant by the LORD your God that Solomon would surely be king after you and sit on your throne." 18 "But at this time Adonijah is king, and my lord, you are not aware of it." 19 "He has sacrificed oxen, fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited the kings sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he has not invited your servant Solomon." 20 "So at this time the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you may tell them who shall sit on your throne after you." 21 "Otherwise, as soon as you sleep with your fathers, Solomon and I will be considered offenders." 22 And while she was still speaking, Nathan the prophet came in. 23 When his arrival had been announce, he came in before the king and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 24 Then Nathan said, "My lord the king, have you said that Adonijah is to be king after you and sit on your throne?" 25 "For today he has sacrificed oxen, fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons and the commanders of the army as well as Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying 'Long live the king.'" 26 "But he has not invited me, your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada or your servant Solomon." 27 "Are you aware of this, and do you approve of him sitting on your throne?"

28 Then King David said, "Call Bathsheba to me." and she came into the king's presence. 29 The king vowed, saying, "As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress," 30 "as I vowed to you saying that your son Solomon shall be king after me, and sit on my throne in my place, I will indeed make this happen today." 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before him, saying, "May my lord the king live forever." 32 Then King David called for Zadoc the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came into his presence. 33 The king said to them, "Take my servants with you and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him to Gihon." 34 "Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and say, "Long live King Solomon! 35 "Then you shall follow him to my throne, and he shall sit on it and be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah." 36 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada said, "Amen!" 37 "As the LORD has been with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!" 38 So Zadoc the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule, and brought him to Gihon. 39 Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, "Long live the king!" 40 And all the people came up after him and played on flutes, rejoicing greatly, so that the earth shook with their noise.

41 Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the noise as they were finishing eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, "Why is the city in such an uproar?" 42 While he spoke, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Adonijah said, "Come in, for you are a valiant man and bring good news." 43 But Jonathan replied to him, "No! Our lord the king has made Solomon king." 44 "The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they have made him ride on the king's mule." 45 "Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and the city is in an uproar with much rejoicing. This is the noise you heard." 46 "Besides this, Solomon has taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom." 47 "Moreover, the king's servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, "May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than yours!" And the king bowed himself on his bed." 48 "The king has said, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has granted that one sit on my throne while my eyes see it.'."

49 Then all of Adonijah's guests were terrified. Each one rose up and went his own way. 50 Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. 51 Solomon was told that Adonijah was afraid of him and had taken hold of the horns of the altar, asking that King Solomon swear that he will not put him to death with the sword. 52 Solomon said, "If he is a worthy man, not a hair of his head will come to harm. But if wickedness is found in him, he will die." 53 So King Solomon sent for him and he was brought down from the altar. He came and prostrated himself before King Solomon, who said to him, "Go to your house."

1 Kings 2 - RWB Paraphrase (46 V)
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Solomon Becomes More Established As King of Israel
1 As David's life was nearing its end, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 "I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man." 3 "Keep the charge of the LORD your God, walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in everything you do." 4 "By conducting yourself in this way, the LORD may carry out His promise to me, when He said, 'If your sons are careful to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'" 5 "Now you know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, in killing the two commanders of the armies of Israel: Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether. He shed the blood of war during the time of peace." 6 "So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go to the grave in peace." 7 "But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them eat at your table, for they assisted me when I fled from your brother Absalom."

8 "And there is Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite of Bahurim. He cursed me violently on the day I went to Mahanaim when I fled from Absalom. When he came to me at the Jordon, as I was returning to Jerusalem, I swore to him by the LORD that I would not put him to death with the sword." 9 "Do not let him go unpunished. You are a wise man and will know what to do to him. You will bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood."

10 Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. 11 David had reigned over Israel forty years: seven years in Hebron and thirty three years in Jerusalem. 12 And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

13 Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She said,"Do you come peacefully?" And he said,"Peacefully." 14 Then he said,"I have something to say to you. And she said,"Speak. 15 So he said,"You know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel expected me to be king. However, it was turned over to my brother, for it was his from the LORD." 16 "I am making only one request. Please do not refuse me." And she said,"Speak." 17 He said,"Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not refuse you. Ask him to give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife." 18 Bathsheba agreed to speak to the king for him. 19 She went to King Solomon to speak for Adonijah and the king arose to meet her, bowing to her. Then he sat on his throne and had another throne set to his right for his mother. 20 She said to Solomon,"I am making one small request of you. Do not refuse me." And the king said to her,"Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you." 21 So she said,"Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife." 22 King Solomon asked his mother,"And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom as well, for he is my older brother. Ask for him, and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab the son of Zeruiah." 23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying,"May God do to me and more so if Adonijah has not spoken thus against his own life." 24 "As surely as the LORD lives, who has established me on the throne of David my father and made me an house as He promised, just as surely shall Adonijah be put to death today." 25 So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and he fell upon Adonijah and killed him.

26 Then to Abiathar the priest the king said,"Go to Anathoth to your own field, for you deserve to die. But I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the LORD God before my father David, and because you shared my father's afflictions." 27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

COMMENT:

1 Samuel 2:30-32 "Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, 'I had said that your house and your father's house should walk before Me forever. But now I am saying that I will not honor those who do not honor Me, and have little respect for Me.'" [31] "Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house and there will be no old men in your house." [32] "You will see an enemy in My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do in Israel and there will be no old men in your house forever."

28 News of this came to Joab, for he had followed Adonijah, though he had not followed Absalom. Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 Solomon was told of this and sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to kill Joab. 30 So Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD and said to Joab,"The king has said to come out." Joab answered,"No, I will die here." Benaiah sent word of Joab's answer to the king. 31 The king said,"Do as he has spoken. Fall on him and bury him, so that the blood which Joab shed without cause may be removed from my father's house." 32 "The LORD will return his blood on his own head, because he killed two men more righteous than he, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah." 33 "So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and his descendants. May there be peace from the LORD forever." 34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada put Joab to death and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness. 35 The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and Zadoc the priest in the place of Abiathar.

36 Then the king called for Shimei and said,"Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem. And do not go out of Jerusalem." 37 "For on the day you go out and cross the Kidron brook, you shall surely die. Your blood shall be on your own head." 38 Then Shimei said,"What you have said is good and I will abide by your word." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. 39 After two years two of Shimei's servants ran away to Achish the son of Maacah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told that they had run away. 40 Then he saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to look for his servants. Finding them he brought them back to Jerusalem. 41 Solomon was told that Shimei had gone to Gath and returned. 42 So the king sent for Shimei and said to him,"Didn't you promise not to leave Jerusalem lest you be put to death?" 43 "Why have you not kept your oath of the LORD, and the command that I charged you with?" 44 "You know all the wickedness of your heart which you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will return your wickedness on your own head." 45 "By this king Solomon will be blessed and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever." 46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to fall on him and he died. Thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.

1 Kings 3 - RWB Paraphrase (28 V)
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God Gives Solomon Wisdom to Rule Israel
1 Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, taking Pharaoh's daughter and bringing her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house, the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem.

2 The people were still sacrificing on the high places because there was no house built for the name of the LORD. 3 Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

4 Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was a great high place. He offered a thousand burnt offering on that altar. 5 In Gibeon God appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. He said, "Ask what you wish for Me to give to you." 6 Then Solomon said, "You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness. And you have given him a son to sit on his throne." 7 "Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a child. I do not know how to come in or go out." 8 "Your servant is in the midst of a great people, too many to count." 9 "So give your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may know the difference between good and evil. For who can judge this great people of Yours?" 10 It pleased the LORD that Solomon asked for this. 11 God said to him, "Because you have not asked for long life, riches, or the lives of your enemies, but for wisdom and discernment to understand justice," 12 "I will do as you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, like no one before you or any that will come after you." 13 "And I will also give you what you have not asked for, both riches and honor, so that there will be no king like you during all your days." 14 "If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David did, then I will prolong your days." 15 Then Solomon awoke, and realized it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he made a feast for all his servants.

16 Two women who were harlots came to request the king's judgment between them. 17 The first woman said, "O, my lord, this woman and I live together in the same house. I gave birth to a child while she was in the house." 18 "It happened that on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth, and we were together. No one else lived with us." 19 "This woman's son died in the night after she lay on it." 20 "She then got up while it was yet night and exchanged her baby for mine. I was asleep when she laid her dead son in my bosom." 21 "When I woke up to nurse my son, he was dead. But after looking at him carefully, I knew he was not my son."

22 Then the other woman said, "That is not true! The living one is my son, and the dead one is her son." But the first woman immediately said, "No! The dead one is your son, and the living one is mine." Thus they argued before the king.

23 Then the king said, "They each claim the dead one is not their son." 24 And he said, "Get me a sword." So they brought him a sword. 25 Then the king said, "Divide the living child between them, giving half to each woman." 26 Then the woman who was the mother of the living child was deeply distressed and said to the king, "O, my lord, give her the living child and do not kill him." But the other woman said, "Dividing him between us seems fair." 27 Then the king said, "Give the living child to the woman who does not want him to die. She is his mother."

28 When all Israel heard of the king's judgment in the matter, they feared him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

1 Kings 4 - RWB Paraphrase (34 V)
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Solomon Managed the Kingdom of Israel with Wisdom From God
1 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 His officials were, Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest,
3 Elihoreph and Ahiah the sons of Shisha were the scribes,
Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder,
4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army,
Zadoc and Abiathar were priests,
5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers, and Zabud the son of Nathan was the principal officer, and the king's friend,
6 Ahishar was over the household,
And Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.

7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel. They were responsible for providing for the needs of the king's household. Each man was responsible for one month. 8 These are their names: the son of Hur, in Mount Ephraim,
9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and Shaalbim, Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan,
10 The son of Hesed in Aruboth. To him all the land of Hepher.
11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor, which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife.
12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam.
13 The son of Geber in Ramothgilead. His territory was the towns of Jair the Son of Manasseh in Gilead. And the region of Argob in Bashan, having sixty great cities with walls and brass bars.
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo in Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz in Naphtali who was married to Basemath, Solomon's daughter.
16 Baana the son of Hushai in Asher and Bealoth.
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar.
18 Shimei the son of Elah in Benjamin.
19 Geber the son of Uri in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only officer in the land.

20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea, eating, drinking and rejoicing. 21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines, and down to the boarder of Egypt. They all brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon's provisions for a single day were thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty pasture fed oxen, a hundred sheep and deer, gazelles, roebucks and fattened fowl.

24 He had dominion over everything west of the river, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings. He had peace on all sides. 25 All of Solomon's days Judah and Israel lives in safety with every man living under his vine and fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba.

26 Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horseman. 27 His officers provided everything for Solomon's table, each in his assigned month. Nothing was lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for his horses as Solomon had charged them.

29 God gave Solomon wisdom, great discernment and a great breadth of mind covering as many things as the number of grains of sand on the seashore. 30 His wisdom surpassed the wisdom of the sons of the east as well as all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than all men, even Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. His fame was known in all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He had a knowledge of animals, birds, creeping things and fish.

COMMENT: It seems that God gave this knowledge to him without him having to study it out.

34 Men came from all kingdoms to hear the wisdom of Solomon, for all the kings of the earth had heard of his wisdom.

1 Kings 5 - RWB Paraphrase (18 V)
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King Hiram of Lebanon Provides Cedar and Cypress for the Temple
1 When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in place of his father, he sent his servants to him. 2 Then Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, 3 "You know that David my father was not able to build a house for the name of the LORD his God because he had been a man of war and shed much blood while putting his enemies under his feet." 4 "But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. I have no adversaries and nothing to stop me." 5 "So I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God. The LORD told David my father that his son who would sit on his throne and he would build a house for the LORD." 6 "Now therefore, command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me, and my servants will work with your servants. I will give you wages for your servants as determined by you. I know that no one cuts timbers like the Sidonians."

7 When Hiram heard Solomon's words, he rejoiced greatly and blessed the LORD for giving David's throne to a wise son to be king over a great people. 8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon saying that he would provide whatever Solomon needed in cedar and cypress timber. 9 He said, "My servants will raft them down by sea from Lebanon to wherever you direct me and you can take the rafts apart and carry them away. Then you can accomplish my desire in giving me food for my household."

10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress he wanted. 11 And year by year Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 measures of wheat for his household and twenty measures of pure oil.

12 The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.

13 King Solomon levied forced labor throughout Israel. They numbered 30,000 men. 14 He sent them to Lebanon in relays of 10,000 each month with two months at home. He placed Adoniram over the forced labor.

15 Solomon had 70,000 transporters, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains. 16 He also had 3,300 officers over the people doing the work.

17 At the king's command they quarried great and costly stones for the foundation. 18 Both Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders, as well as the Gebalites, cut stones and prepared the timbers to build the house.

1 Kings 6 - RWB Paraphrase (38 V)
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Solomon Builds the Lord's House
1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, and in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Zif, the second month of the year, he began to build the house of God. 2 The house which Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.

COMMENT: The structure Solomon built was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high.

3 The porch in front of the temple was twenty cubits long, the same width as the house, and its depth was ten cubits.

COMMENT: In 1 Chronicles it says that David prepared plans for the temple Solomon was to build.

1 Chronicles 28:11 Then David gave Solomon the plan for the porch of the temple, its buildings and storehouses, upper rooms, inner rooms and the room for the mercy seat,

1 Chronicles 28:19 "All of this," David said, "The LORD showed me with His hand upon me as I wrote down the details of the plan."

4 He had windows made for the house with artistic frames. 5 He made side chambers all around the walls of the temple. 6 The lowest story was five cubits wide, the second was six cubits wide and the third was seven cubits wide. He made offsets in the wall of the house so that the beams were not inserted in the walls of the house.

COMMENT: A cubit is one and one half feet.

7 While the house was being built the stones were prepared in the quarry, so that there was no sound of a hammer, axe or any iron tool in the house while it was being built. 8 The doorway for the lowest chamber was on the right side of the house. A winding stairway went up to the middle story and from there on up to the third story. 9 After building the house he covered it with cedar beams and planks. 10 He also built the chambers against the house five cubits high. They rested on the house with timbers of cedar.

11 Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, 12 "Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances, and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will keep My promise to you which I made to David your father." 13 "I will dwell among the children of Israel and I will not forsake My people."

14 So Solomon finished building the house. 15 He placed cedar boards on the inside walls from top to bottom. And he overlaid the floors with cypress. 16 He built a room at the rear of the house twenty cubits square and lined it with cedar. This was the inner sanctuary, the most holy place. 17 The room in front of the inner sanctuary was forty cubits long. 18 There was cedar inside this room with carved shapes of gourds and flowers and no stone was seen. 19 He prepared the inner sanctuary as a place for the ark of the covenant of the LORD. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high. It was overlaid with pure gold. He also made an alter of cedar.

21 Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. He made a partition in the front of the inner sanctuary using chains overlaid with gold. 22 He finished all the house, overlaying it with gold. Even the whole altar by the inner sanctuary was overlaid with gold.

23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood. Each one was ten cubits high. 24 Each wing of one cherubim was five cubits, so that from wing tip to wing tip it measured ten cubits. 25 The other cherubim was also ten cubits. Both cherub were identical. 26 Each cherubim was ten cubits high. 27 He set the cherubim in the middle of the inner house so that they were spread out wing tip to wing tip, one touching one wall and the other touching the opposite wall in the center of the room. 28 Each cherubim was overlaid with gold.

29 He had carvings on all the walls around the house with figures of cherubim, palm trees and flowers. 30 He overlaid the floor of the house with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries. 31 At the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, a lintel and five sided doorposts. 32 The two doors he made of olive wood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees and flowers, and overlaid all of it with gold. 33 He made four sided doorposts of olive wood for the entrance, 34 and two doors of cypress. Each door turned on pivots. 35 He had cherubim, palm trees and flowers carved on the doors and overlaid the carving with gold. 36 He built the inner court with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Zif. 38 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the house was finished in every respect. It took seven years to build all of it.

1 Kings 7 - RWB Paraphrase (51 V)
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Solomon Builds His Own House and Furniture for the Temple
1 It took Solomon thirteen years to build his own house, 2 from the forests of Lebanon. It was 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide and high. 3 It was covered with cedar above the beams that rested on forty five pillars, fifteen in each row. 4 There were three rows of windows giving lots of light. 5 All the doors and posts were square. 6 He made a porch. Its length was fifty cubits and its width thirty cubits. It had pillars around it and a threshold in front. 7 The hall of the throne from where he would judge was of paneled cedar.

8 His house where he lived was another court within the porch. Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh's daughter who he had taken as his wife. It was made like the porch he lived in. 9 Everything was made of costly cut stones, each measured carefully and sawed. This was done even with the foundation stones, 10 which were costly and large, some eight cubits and some ten cubits. 11 Above the foundation were costly stones cut according to measurement, and cedar. 12 The great court all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams like in the inner court of the house of the LORD.

13 King Solomon invited Hiram from Tyre. 14 He was a widow's son from the tribe of Naphtali and his father was man of Tyre who worked with bronze. He was filled with wisdom and skill for bronze work and he performed all the bronze work for king Solomon. 15 He fashioned two pillars of bronze that were eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference. 16 He also made two capitals of molten bronze to set on top of the pillars. The height of each capital was five cubits. 17 There were seven chains making a network around each capital. 18 Each network of chains had bronze pomegranates. 19 The capitals had a lily design. 20 The pomegranates on the capitals numbered two hundred on each capital. 21 When he set up the right pillar he named it Jachin and when he set up the left pillar he named it Boaz. 22 On top of the pillars was a lily design. This finished the work of the pillars.

23 He made the sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, five cubits high and thirty cubits in circumference. 24 Under its brim gourds encircled it, ten to a cubit all around the sea. The gourds were cast in two rows, cast with the rest. 25 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. They all stood facing out from under the sea. 26 It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies. It held two thousand baths, or almost twelve thousand gallons.

27 He made ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits by four cubits and three cubits high. 28 The stands had borders between the frames, 29 and on the borders that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. Upon the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. 30 Each stand had four bronze wheels on bronze axles. Its four feet had supports cast beneath the basin with wreaths on each side. 31 The opening inside the crown was a cubit, and on its opening were engravings with their border square, not round. 32 The four wheels were underneath the borders mounted on the axles on each stand. Each wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels looked like a chariot wheel. Their axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all cast. 34 There were four supports, one at each of the four corners of each stand. The supports were part of the stand itself. 35 On top of the stand there was a circular form half a cubit high. The stays and borders were part of the top part of it. 36 He engraved the plates of its stays on its border with cherubim, lions, palm trees and wreaths all around. 37 He made ten stands like this, all from one casting so they had exactly the same form.

38 He made ten basins of bronze, each holding forty baths, or about 235 gallons. Each basin was four cubits, and there was a stand for each basin. 39 He set five stands on the right side of the house and five on the left side. He set the sea of cast metal on the right side of the house to the east and faced it to the south.

40 Hiram made the basins, the shovels and bowls. He finished doing everything for king Solomon in the house of the LORD. 41 There were the two pillars with their capitals and their network of ornaments, 42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network on the capitals at the top of the pillars, 43 and the ten stands with the ten basins, 44 the one sea mounted on the twelve oxen under it, 45 the pails, shovels and bowls. All the utensils Hiram made for King Solomon were of polished bronze. 46 They were cast in the clay of the plain on the Jordon between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon did not weigh all the utensils because there were too many to weigh.

48 Solomon made all the furniture of gold in the house of the LORD. This included the golden altar, the golden table of showbread, 49 the ten lampstands, five on each side, all made of pure gold. Also there were the flowers on the lamps and the tongs, all of gold, 50 and the cups and snuffers, the bowls and spoons, and the firepans were of pure gold. The hinges on the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and the doors of the outer house, all made of gold. 51 Thus all the work King Solomon did in the house of the LORD was finished. He brought in the things dedicated by his father David, the silver and gold utensils, placing them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.

1 Kings 8 - RWB Paraphrase (66 V)
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Solomon Brings the Ark of the Covenant to the New Temple
1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of tribes to Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion. 2 He assembled them for a feast in the seventh month, Ethanim. 3 When all the elders had come, the priests took up the ark. 4 They brought the ark up, the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy utensils which were in the tabernacle. 5 King Solomon and all of the congregation assembled and sacrificed sheep and oxen without number. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary, the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim spread their wings making a covering over the ark and its poles. 8 The poles were long enough so that they could be seen from the holy place, but not from outside. They are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt.

10 When the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD. 11 Because of the cloud the priests could not stand to minister, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. 12 Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud." 13 "I have surely built You a lofty house, a place for Your dwelling forever." 14 Then the king turned and faced the congregation of Israel and they stood as he blessed them. 15 He said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, fulfilling His word when He said," 16 "since the day that I brought Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build my house. But I did choose David to be over My people Israel." 17 "It was in his heart to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel." 18 "But the LORD told my father David, 'It is good that you want to build a house for My name.'." 19 "Nevertheless, you shall not build the house. Your son will build the house for My name."

20 "Now the LORD has fulfilled His word, for I have become king in my father's place, and as the LORD promised, I have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel." 21 "I have made a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt."

22 Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, spreading his hands toward heaven. 23 And he said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on the earth beneath, keeping His covenant and showing mercy to His servants who walk before Him with all their heart," 24 "having kept Your servant, my father David, just as you promised him. You have kept your promise up to this day just as You gave it." 25 "Now, O LORD God of Israel, keep Your promise to Your servant David that one of his sons will sit on the throne of Israel as long as they walk in Your ways." 26 "O God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed just as You spoke it to my father David."

27 "But will God actually dwell on earth? The highest heaven cannot contain You, and neither can this house which I have built contain You." 28 "Please have regard for Your servant's prayer today." 29 "May Your eyes be open toward this house night and day, to listen when Your servant prays toward this place." 30 "Hear from heaven when Your servant and Your people Israel pray toward this place. Hear and forgive."

COMMENT: Daniel prayed toward Jerusalem even after the temple had been destroyed.

31 "If a man sins against his neighbor and takes an oath before Your altar in this house," 32 "then hear in heaven and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked and bringing his sin on his own head, justifying the righteous according to His righteousness."

33 "When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy, because they have sinned, if they turn to You again and confess Your name, making supplication to You in this house," 34 "then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers."

COMMENT: This is one of the things Daniel prayed for.

35 "When the heavens give no rain, because Your people have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them," 36 "then hear in heaven and forgive their sin, teaching them how to walk. And send rain on Your land which You gave them for an inheritance."

37 "If there is famine in the land, or pestilence, blight or mildew, locust or grasshoppers, if their enemy besieges them, or a plague, or whatever sickness there is," 38 "whatever the prayer or supplication of Your people Israel, each one knowing his own heart and spreading his hands toward this house," 39 "then hear in heaven from Your dwelling place, forgive and render to each according to his ways, because You know the hearts of all men," 40 "that they may fear You all their days in the land You gave to our fathers."

41 "And concerning the foreigner who is not of your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your name's sake," 42 "for they will hear of Your greatness, and come to pray toward this house," 43 "hear from Your dwelling place in heaven and give the foreigner what he asks for, that all the people of the earth may know and fear Your name, as do the people of Israel, that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name."

44 "When Your people go out to battle, and they pray to You toward the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built," 45 "then hear in heaven their prayer and supplication, and maintain their cause." 46 "When they sin against You, for we all sin, and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, and they are taken captive," 47 "if they think of this land, repenting and making supplication to You, admitting their wickedness," 48 "if they return to You with all their heart and soul while they are held captive, and pray toward this place which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name," 49 "then hear their prayer in Your dwelling place in heaven, and maintain their cause."

COMMENT: Solomon clearly recognizes that although he has built a house of worship for God on earth, God still dwells in heaven.

50 "Forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and show them compassion before those who have taken them captive that they may have compassion on them," 51 "for they are Your people which You brought as Your inheritance out of the iron furnace of Egypt," 52 "that You may listen to the supplication of Your people Israel when they call to You." 53 "For You have separated them from all other people of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses when You brought our fathers out of Egypt."

54 When Solomon had finished making his supplication to the LORD, he arose from the altar of the LORD, having been on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: 56 "blessed be the LORD who has given rest to His people Israel, just as He has promised. None of His words have failed of all His good promises He made through Moses." 57 "May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us or forsake us," 58 "that He may draw our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and keep His commandments, statutes and ordinances, which He commanded our fathers." 59 "And may my supplication before the LORD be near to Him day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and His people Israel." 60 "So that all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and there is no other god." 61 "Therefore, let your hearts be wholly devoted to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments."

62 The king and all Israel offered sacrifice before the LORD. 63 Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep as peace offerings to the LORD. And so Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. 64 On the same day the king consecrated the middle court that was before the house of the LORD, offering sacrifices there, because the bronze altar was too small for all the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.

65 So Solomon observed the feast at that time, and all Israel with him. It was a great assembly gathered from the entrance to Hamath to the brook of Egypt. They came together for seven days and then for another seven days. 66 After fourteen days he sent the people away and they blessed the king. They went joyfully to their tents, glad for the goodness the LORD had shown to David His servant and to His people Israel.

1 Kings 9 - RWB Paraphrase (28 V)
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God Reminds Solomon of His Duty As His Kingdom Becomes More Secure
1 After Solomon had finished building the LORD's house and his own house, and had accomplished everything he had wanted to do, 2 then the LORD appeared to him a second time, as He had at Gibeon. 3 The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer of supplication. I have consecrated the house which you built for Me. My eyes and My heart will always be there." 4 "As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David did, in uprightness, doing everything I have commanded, keeping My statutes and ordinances," 5 "then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised your father David."

COMMENT: Solomon's actions certainly would have an affect on his children. But that of his wives would also have an affect. Here is an example of forever being more closely associated with Solomon's lifetime.

6 "But if you or your sons turn from following Me by not keeping My commandments and statutes, and worshiping other gods," 7 "then I will cut Israel off from the land that I gave to them, and I will cast from My sight the house you have made for Me. Israel will become a proverb and a byword among the nations." 8 "And this house will become a heap of ruins. Those passing by will recognize that the LORD has done this to this land." 9 "They will understand that Israel forsook their God who brought their fathers out of Egypt. They adopted other gods worshiping them, so the LORD has brought this adversity on them."

10 And so it was that after twenty years, Solomon finished building the two houses.

COMMENT: This was the halfway point in Solomon's reign over Israel.

11 Hiram, king of Tyre, had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber, and as much gold he wanted. In exchange Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in Galilee. 12 When Hiram came to see the cities Solomon had given him, he was not pleased. 13 He said, "What are these cities you have given me, my brother?" So they were known as Cabul, or in other words, they were of little value to Hiram. 14 Hiram sent king Solomon 120 talents of gold.

15 Here is the account of the forced labor which king Solomon levied in order to build the house of the LORD, as well as his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.

16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had captured Gezer from the Canaanites, killing it inhabitants and burning it with fire. He now gave it as a dowry to his daughter who was Solomon's wife. 17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower Bethhoron, 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 and all the storage cities Solomon used for his chariots and his horsemen, as well as anywhere else he desired, such as in Jerusalem and in Lebanon, and in all the land he ruled. 20 As for the remainder of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, those not of Israel, 21 whose descendants they were not able to completely destroy, from these Solomon continued to levy forced labor. 22 But he never made slaves of the children of Israel. Instead they were men of war, princes, captains, chariot commanders and horsemen.

23 There were five hundred and fifty chief officers Solomon placed over the people doing the work. 24 As soon as Pharaoh's daughter moved from the city of David to the house Solomon had built for her, he began building the Millo.

25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the LORD. He burned incense before the LORD with his offerings after he had finished the house.

26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Eziongeber near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, as an aid to Solomon's servants. These were sailors who knew the sea. 28 They brought back from Ophir four hundred and twenty talents of gold to king Solomon.

1 Kings 10 - RWB Paraphrase (29 V)
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The Queen of Sheba Comes to Hear Solomon's Wisdom
1 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's fame in connection with the LORD, and she came to test him with difficult questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue of camels carrying spices, much gold and precious stones. When she sat down with Solomon she asked him about everything on her heart. 3 He answered all her questions. There wasn't anything he could not explain. 4 As the queen of Sheba observed Solomon's wisdom, and the house he had built, 5 the food served at his table, how his servants were seated and everything about those who waited on him, and the stairway that went up to the house of the LORD, it took her breath away. 6 She said to him, "The report I heard in my own land about you and your wisdom is certainly true." 7 "But I did not believe what I heard and I came to see for myself. In fact, the half has not been told concerning your wisdom and prosperity." 8 "How blessed are those who stand before you and hear your wisdom." 9 "Blessed be the LORD your God who was happy to set you on the throne of Israel. He certainly loves Israel and has made you king to do justice and righteousness."

10 She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, as well as many spices and precious stones. No one ever again provided such an abundance of spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.

11 The ships of Hiram brought gold from Ophir, precious stones and a great number of almug trees. 12 The king used the almug trees to make supports for the house of the LORD as well as in his own house. The wood was also used to make lyres and harps for the singers. The like has never been seen since.

13 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba everything she asked for, beside that which was her royal due. And she returned to her own land with her servants.

14 The weight of the gold which came to Solomon in a single year was six hundred and sixty six talents of gold.

COMMENT: 666 is an interesting number. In the book of Revelation this number is associated with those working against God. Did all this wealth work against Solomon and his spiritual well being?

Revelation 13:16-18 And he causes all, both great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead, [17] so that no man could buy or sell unless he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [18] "Who will not fear You, O LORD, and glorify Your name? For You are holy. All nations shall come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed."

15 Besides this were the wares of the merchants and traders of all the kings and the governors of Arabia.

16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels were used for each shield. 17 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold using three minas of gold for each shield. These he placed in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 18 Besides this he made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold. 19 Six steps led to the throne that had a round top. The throne had arms on each side of the seat and a lion beside each arm. 20 In addition there were twelve lions on the six steps: one on each end of the six steps. No other kingdom had anything like this throne.

21 All of Solomon's drinking vessels were of pure gold. Silver was not used because it was not considered valuable in Solomon's days. 22 Every three years Hiram's ships came from Tarshish bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.

23 So Solomon became greater in riches and wisdom than all the kings of the earth. 24 All the earth sought his presence in order to hear the wisdom God had placed in him. 25 Year by year people brought gifts of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules. 26 Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen. These he stationed in the chariot cities and in Jerusalem.

27 The king made silver in Jerusalem as common as stones. Cedar was as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowland.

28 He imported horses from Egypt. 29 A chariot imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver and a horse cost one hundred and fifty. These were then exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.

1 Kings 11 - RWB Paraphrase (43 V)
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Solomon and His Many Wives
1 King Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter there were Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian and Hittite women. 2 These were nations the LORD had told Israel it should not take wives from, lest their hearts be turned after their gods. But Solomon continued to love women from these nations. 3 He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines and his wives turned his heart away from God. 4 When he was old his heart was no longer totally devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David's heart had been. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, and for Molech the detestable idol of Ammon. 8 He did these things for his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9 The LORD was angry with Solomon because he had turned from serving Him after He had appeared to him two times. 10 Though He had commanded Solomon not go after other gods, he did anyway. 11 So the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you have disobeyed Me, not keeping My covenant and My statutes which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant." 12 "But for the sake of your father David, I will not do this while you live. Instead I will tear it from your son." 13 "I will leave one tribe with him for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."

14 Then the LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite as an adversary to Solomon. He was of the royal line in Edom. 15 Back when David was in Edom, Joab as commander of the army had had every male in Edom slain. 16 Joab and the army did this while they stayed in Edom for six months. 17 As a young boy Hadad had fled to Egypt with some of his father's servants. 18 They left Midian and took some men from Paran and went to Egypt where Pharaoh gave him a house, food and land. 19 Hadad was greatly favored by Pharaoh and he gave him the sister of his own wife. 20 She bore him a son, Genubath, and he was weaned in Pharaoh's house, where he lived among the sons of Pharaoh.

21 When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, he asked Pharaoh to let him go back to his own country. 22 Pharaoh said, "What have you lacked while you have been with me? Why go back to your own country?" Hadad said, "I have lacked nothing, but I must go."

23 God raise up another adversary to Solomon as well, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 He became the leader of a marauding band after David slew many of the men of Zobah. He and his men had escaped to Damascus. 25 He reigned over Aram and abhorred Israel. He was an adversary all the days of Solomon, along with the evil Hadad did.

26 Then there was Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He was an Ephrathite of Zeredah, Solomon's servant. His mother's name was Zeruah, a widow. He also rebelled against Solomon. 27 He rebelled against Solomon when he built the Millo and closed the breach of the city of David. 28 Jeroboam was a valiant warrior and Solomon noticed him as a young man. He appointed him to be over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite, wearing a new cloak, met him on the road. They were alone by the field. 30 Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 He said to Jeroboam, "Take ten of the pieces for yourself. The LORD God of Israel says, 'Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes.'." 32 "Solomon will have one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for Jerusalem, the city I have chosen." 33 "I am doing this because they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not done what is right in My eyes, keeping My statutes and judgments, as his father David did." 34 "However, I will not take the whole kingdom from him and he will rule as long as he lives. I will do this on account of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes." 35 "I will, however, take the kingdom from his son and give ten tribes to you." 36 "To his son I will give only one tribe so that my servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put My name." 37 "I will cause you to reign over Israel." 38 "And if you listen to all that I command, and walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will build you an enduring house, as I did for David." 39 "Thus I will afflict the descendants of David for a time, but not forever." 40 When Solomon heard of what God had said to Jeroboam, he tried to have him put to death, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt where he stayed until Solomon died.

41 The rest of Solomon's acts, and his wisdom, are written in the book of the acts of Solomon. 42 Solomon reigned over Israel from Jerusalem for forty years. 43 Then he slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

COMMENT: The meaning of the name Rehoboam means to 'Enlarge his people.' Another source says that it signifies 'A wine bottle about six times the standard size.'

1 Kings 12 - RWB Paraphrase (33 V)
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Rehoboam Looses Ten of the Tribes of Israel to Jeroboam
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem where all Israel had come to make him king. 2 Jeroboam heard of this when he was still living in Egypt after fleeing from king Solomon. 3 Jeroboam was sent for, and he and all the assembly of Israel spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 "Your father made our yoke difficult. Therefore, lighten your father's heavy yoke which he put on us and we will serve you." 5 So Rehoboam told them he needed three days to consider their request. 6 King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father, asking them, "How shall I answer the people?" 7 They replied, "If you will be a servant to this people, grant their petition and they will serve you forever." 8 But he was not pleased with their counsel and consulted with the young men he grew up with. 9 He asked them, "What answer do you say that I should give the people? Should I lighten their load as they have asked?" 10 The young men said, "Tell them that you will make their yoke even harder. Tell them that your little finger is thicker than your father's loins." 11 "Say to them, My father loaded you with a heavy yoke. I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips. I will discipline you with scorpions."

12 Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as they had been directed. 13 The king answered the people harshly and did not speak according to the advice of the elders who had served his father. 14 Instead he spoke the advice given by the young men, saying."My father made your yoke heavy but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips. I will do it with scorpions."

15 This was a turn of events from the LORD, that His word might be establish which He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, they said to him, "What portion do we have in David? To your tents, O Israel. David can look after his own house. And they left for their tents." 17 But those living in the cities of Judah chose to have Rehoboam reign over them.

18 King Rehoboam sent Adoram who was over the forced labor and all Israel stoned him to death. So king Rehoboam mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. 19 And Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David ever since.

20 When all Israel had heard that Jeroboam had come back from Egypt, they had an assembly and made him king over Israel. Only the tribe of Judah did not follow him.

21 When Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he assembled the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel and restore the entire kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, saying." 24 Thus says the LORD, "You must not go up to fight against the children of Israel for they are your relatives. Return, every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me." So they listen to the word of the LORD and did as He told them.

25 Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. Next he built up Penuel. 26 He said to himself, "The people will eventually return to the house of David." 27 "If they go to offer sacrifices in the LORD's house in Jerusalem, they will eventually return to Rehoboam king of Judah, and I will be killed when this happens." 28 So Jeroboam made two golden calves and said to the people, "It is too far for you to go to Jerusalem. Behold. Here are your gods who brought you up out of Egypt." 29 He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan. 30 This thing caused the people to sin. 31 And Jeroboam made houses on the high places and chose common people to be priests, men not of the sons of Levi. 32 He instituted a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast in Judah. Thus in Bethel he sacrificed to the calves which he had made. And he placed priests in the high places he had made. 33 So he instituted a feast of his own devising for the people on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.

1 Kings 13 - RWB Paraphrase (34 V)
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The Prophet of the Lord Tells Jeroboam His Kingdom Is Doomed
1 The LORD sent a man of God to Bethel while Jeroboam stood by the altar burning incense. 2 He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, saying, "O altar, the LORD says, behold a son shall be born to the house of David. His name will be Josiah. He will sacrifice the priests of the high places on you. Human bones will be burned on you." 3 Then he said, "This is the sign the LORD has given: behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes on it shall be poured out." 4 When Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried against the altar in Bethel, he stretched out his hand toward him, saying, "Seize him." But his hand dried up so that he could not draw it back. 5 The altar split apart and the ashes poured out of it, just as God had said through the man of God. 6 The king said to the man of God, "Please entreat the LORD your God, asking that my hand be restored." So the man of God prayed to the LORD and the king's hand was restored to him whole.

7 Then the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." 8 But the man of God replied, "I cannot go with you no matter how much you give me. Neither can I drink water or eat bread in this place." 9 "The LORD has commanded me, saying, 'You shall not eat bread or drink water, nor return the same way you came.'." 10 So he left Bethel by another way.

11 An old prophet lived in Bethel and his sons told him of the encounter of the man of God with the king. 12 The father asked which way he had gone, for they had seen him going back to Judah. 13 He had his sons saddle his donkey and he rode away. 14 He went after the man of God and found him. He asked the man, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" He said, "I am." 15 Then the old man invited him home to eat bread. 16 The man of God said, "I cannot come with you, or eat your bread or drink your water." 17 "For the LORD has commanded me to eat no bread, drink no water, nor go home the way I have come." 18 The old man said, "I am a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying that I should bring you to my house that you may eat and drink." But he was lying. 19 So the man of God was convinced and return with the old man to eat bread and drink water.

COMMENT: When God tells you something He does not change what He said. Count on it.

20 As they were sitting at the table the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried to the man of God, who had come from Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD. Because you have disobeyed the command of the LORD, which He plainly told you," 22 "and have returned to eat bread and drink water where He told you not to do this, you will not be buried with your fathers." 23 And it came to pass that after he had eaten bread and had some water, the old prophet saddled his donkey for him to ride. 24 When he had gone some distance, a lion met him on the road and killed him and his body was thrown to the ground. The donkey stood beside his torn body and the lion stood by also. 25 Men passing by saw this and came to the city where the old prophet lived and reported it. 26 When the prophet who had brought him back heard of it, he knew it was the man of God who had disobeyed the command of the LORD. The LORD had caused the man's death. 27 Then he told his sons to saddle the donkey for him. 28 He went and found the body on the road with the donkey and the lion standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or bothered the donkey. 29 So the old prophet took the body of the man of God and laid it on his donkey and brought it back to his city. He mourned as he buried the man. 30 He placed the body in his own grave and mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" 31 Afterwards he told his sons that when he died they should bury him in the same grave with the bones of the man of God. 32 "For, " he said, "The thing which the LORD said through him shall surely come to pass against the altar of Bethel, and against all the houses on the high places in the cities of Samaria."

33 After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to appoint priests of the high places from among the people, ordaining whomever he chose. 34 Jeroboam's sin was the cause of the blotting out of the house of Jeroboam from the face of the earth.

1 Kings 14 - RWB Paraphrase (31 V)
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Jeroboam King of Israel Displeases the Lord and Loses His Son
1 At that time, Abijah, Jeroboam's son, became sick. 2 Jeroboam sent his wife under a disguise to Shiloh to Ahijah the prophet, who had told him what was to happen to his royal line. 3 He said, "Take ten loaves, some cakes and a jar of honey to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy." 4 Jeroboam's wife did this and came to Ahijah's house. His eyes were dim with age and he could no longer see. 5 The LORD had told Ahijah that Jeroboam's wife was coming to inquire about her son's sickness. He told Ahijah what to say when she arrived. She would be pretending to be another woman. 6 Hearing the sound of her feet in the doorway, Ahijah said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another woman? I have been given a hard message for you." 7 "Go to Jeroboam with this message from the LORD God of Israel. Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over Israel," 8 "having torn the kingdom away from the house of David and given it to you, yet you have not been like my servant David. He kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart doing only what was right in My sight." 9 "You have done more evil then everyone before you, making other gods and molten images, provoking My anger and casting Me behind you." 10 "Therefore I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam. Every male person will be cut off from him. I will make a clean sweep of his house the way one sweeps dung until it is gone." 11 "Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs. The one who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds, for the LORD has spoken it." 12 "Now arise and go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child will die." 13 "All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one who will come to the grave, because there was something good found in him toward the LORD God of Israel." 14 "Moreover, the LORD will raise up a king for Himself, a king in Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam forever." 15 "The LORD will strike Israel the way a reed is shaken in the water. I will uproot Israel from this good land which I gave your fathers. I will scatter you beyond the Euphrates River, because you have provoked Me to anger by making your Asherim." 16 "I will give up Israel on account of the sins of Jeroboam with which he made Israel to sin." 17 So Jeroboam's wife departed for Tirzah and as she entered the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him just as the LORD had said through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20 He reigned twenty two years and then slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam King of Judah Displeases the Lord and Reigns 17 Years
21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty one years old when he became king and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel as a place to put His name. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. 22 Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD and did more to provoke Him than anything their fathers had done. 23 They built high places, sacred pillars and Asherim on every hill and beneath every luxuriant tree. 24 There were also male cult prostitutes doing all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

25 In king Rehoboam's fifth year Shishak the king of Egypt came against Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and as well treasures from the king's house, including the gold shields Solomon had made. 27 So king Rehoboam replaced them with bonze shields, and placed them in the care of those who guarded his house. 28 Whenever the king went to the LORD's house the guards would carry them and then put them back in the guards' room. 29 Now the rest of Rehoboam's acts are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

30 There was continual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. His son Abijam became king in his place.

1 Kings 15 - RWB Paraphrase (34 V)
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Rehoboam's Son Abijam Becomes King of Judah
1 In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 3 He continued in all the sins of his father because his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God. 4 But because of David the LORD gave him a lamp in Jerusalem in order to establish Jerusalem, 5 because David did what was right in His sight keeping all His commandments all the days of his life except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Rehoboam's life. 7 There was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam. The rest of Abijam's acts are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. 8 And Abijam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. Then Asa his son became king in his place.

Abijam's Son Asa Becomes King of Judah
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel Asa reigned over Judah. 10 He reigned forty one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did right in the sight of the LORD like David his father. 12 He put away the male cult prostitutes and removed the idols which his fathers had made. 13 He removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an idol in a grove. He burned this idol by the Kidron brook. 14 However he did not take away the high places even though his heart was wholly devoted to the LORD all his days. 15 He brought the things dedicated to the LORD into the house of the LORD, silver, gold and utensils, things that belonged to his father and himself.

16 There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17 Baasha king of Israel fortifying Ramah to prevent anyone from coming to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then Asa took what was left of the silver and the gold in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and had his servants go to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, at Damascus, saying, 19 "Let's make a treaty together. I have sent you this present of silver and gold. Break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will stop bothering me." 20 Benhadad listened to King Asa and sent his armies against the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abelbethmaachah and Cinneroth within Naphtali. 21 When Baasha learned of this he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah.

22 King Asa made a proclamation to all of Judah. They had to all help carry away the stones of Ramah as well as the timbers Baasha had used in its fortification. Asa used these to build Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

23 The rest of the acts of Asa, his might and the cities he built, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah. In his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24 He slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

25 Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah. Nadab reigned over Israel two years. 26 He did evil in the LORD's sight, walking in the way of his father and in his sins. 27 Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, striking him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. He did this while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. 28 So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in Nadab's place over Israel. 29 As soon as he became king he struck down everyone in the household of Jeroboam. He left none alive, just as the LORD had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 and because of the sins of Jeroboam and because he made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger.

31 The rest of Nadab's acts are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

32 Asa and Baasha were at war with each other all their days. 33 It was in Asa's third year as king of Judah that Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty four years. 34 He did evil in the LORD's sight, walking as Jeroboam had walked and making Israel sin.

1 Kings 16 - RWB Paraphrase (34 V)
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More Bad Kings in Israel: Baasha, Omri and Ahab
1 The word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 2 "Since I exalted you from the dust to be the leader over My people Israel, and you have provoked Me to anger by walking in the ways of Jeroboam and making My people sin," 3 "I will consume Baasha and his house making it like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat." 4 "Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs. If he dies in the field, the birds will eat him." 5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. 6 And Baasha was buried with his fathers in Tirzah. His son Elah became king in his place. 7 The word of the LORD had come through the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha and his household because of the evil he did just as Jeroboam had also done.

8 In the twenty sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel. He reigned two years. 9 His servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him when he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza. 10 Zimri went in and struck him down in the twenty seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and Zimri became king in his place. 11 As soon as he sat on his throne, he had the entire household of Baasha killed. He did not leave a single male alive among Baasha's relatives or his friends. 12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha as the LORD had said through Jehu the prophet. 13 This was done because of all the sins of Baasha as well as his son Elah, because they made Israel sin, thus provoking the LORD God of Israel with their idols. 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

15 In the twenty seventh year of Asa king of Judah,, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah. Israel was camped against Gibbethon which belonged to the Philistines. 16 The people camping there heard that Zimri had struck down the king. So they made Omri, the commander of the army, and king over Israel that same day. 17 Then Omri and all Israel went from Gibbethon to besiege Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the king's palace, started a fire and died in the flames, 19 because he had done evil in the LORD's sight following in Jeroboam's footsteps making Israel sin. 20 The rest of Zimri's acts are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

21 At this point the people of Israel were divided. Half followed Tibni the son of Ginath, wanting him to be king. The other half followed Omri. 22 But the followers of Omri prevailed over those who followed Tibni, so Tibni died and Omri became king.

23 In the thirty first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel. He reigned twelve years, and six of them in Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill called Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill and named the city Samaria.

25 Omri did evil in the LORD's sight, acting more wickedly that all those before him. 26 He did everything Jeroboam the son of Nebat had done, making Israel sin and provoking the LORD God of Israel with their idols. 27 The rest of the acts of Omri are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 28 So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king in his place.

29 Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned twenty two years. 30 Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD more than any before him. 31 It seemed as though it was a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Zidonians, and he served Baal. 32 So he built a house for Baal in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus he did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel before him.

34 During Ahab's days Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho, laying its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and setting up its gates with the lost of Segub, his youngest son. This fulfilled the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

COMMENT:

Joshua 6:26 At this time Joshua made them take an oath, saying, "Cursed before the LORD is the man who rebuilds Jericho. He will lose his firstborn when he lays the foundation and his youngest son when he sets up its gates."

1 Kings 17 - RWB Paraphrase (24 V)
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Elijah Tells Ahab There Will Be No Rain Until He Says So
1 Elijah the Tishbite from among the settlers of Gilead, said to ahab, "as the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew or rain except by my word."

2 Then the LORD told Elijah, 3 "go hide yourself by the brook Cherith which is east of the Jordon."

COMMENT: When I was in academy I thought a lot about Elijah sitting by a brook waiting for God to tell him what to do next. I enjoyed sitting by the brook west of the academy.

4 "You will be able to drink from the brook and I have commanded the ravens to bring you food." 5 So Elijah did as the LORD told him, living by the brook Cherith east of the Jordon. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat morning and evening, and he drank from the brook.

COMMENT: The Lord fed Elijah twice a day and he had only water to drink.

7 With no rain in the land the brook eventually dried up. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 "Arise, go to Zarephath in Zidon. I have commanded a widow to take care of you while you stay there."

COMMENT: She dose not seem to know about this arrangement yet.

10 So Elijah arose and went to Zarephath. When he came to the city gate, he saw a woman gathering sticks. He called to her, saying,"Please get me a little water in a jar that I may drink."

COMMENT: The age old request for a drink of water could not be ignored in most cultures and certainly not in the Middle East.

11 As she was going to get it, he called after her, and said,"Please bring me a piece of bread." 12 She then said, "as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in a bowl and a little oil in a jar. I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare the last meal for me and my son. Then we will die."

COMMENT: The Zidonians had know of Israel's God for many centuries. She talks of Him as being Elijah's God, or the God of Israel.

And she does not yet know of God's plan for her to care for his servant Elijah, for she is planning to make one more meal to eat with her son, and then she expects to die. Her son is the light of her life and the thought of him going hungry weighs heavy on her soul. And this stranger from Israel want her last loaf? The nerve of him. She obviously does not know God has prepared her to care for Elijah's food needs.

13 Elijah said to her,"Do not be afraid. Go do as you have planned, but make me a little bread first and bring it to me. After that you may make one for yourself and your son."

COMMENT: Take care of God's servant first and then take care of yourself. Do you and I ever have such a command given to us today?

14 "For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be used up and neither shall the oil jar be empty, until the day the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" 15 So she went and did as Elijah had asked, and she and her son ate for many days.

COMMENT: Something in her responded by faith to what Elijah directed her to do. What if she had said, 'I'll make a loaf for my son and me then we will see if anything is left for this stranger who has come making this request. Maybe when God said he had prepared a widow to feed Elijah he had done something for her to help her believe.

16 The bowl of flour and the jar of oil were never empty, just as the LORD had spoken through Elijah.

COMMENT: She fed Elijah first and the promise to her came true.

17 It was after this that the son of the woman became so sick that he stopped breathing.

COMMENT: That which she held most dear, feared most of loosing, had died.

18 The woman said to Elijah,"What does your presence have to do with my past? Has my son died because of the life I used to live?"

COMMENT: She somehow believed that she was being called to account for her earlier indiscretions in life. It is natural to think this way, since cause an effect are sometimes imagined and sometimes real enough.

19 He said to her,"Give me your son." Then he took him from her and carried him to the upper room where he lived, and laid the boy on his own bed. 20 He called to the LORD and said, "o LORD my God, have You brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?" 21 Stretching himself upon the child three times, he called to the LORD, saying, "o LORD my God, I pray that You let this child's life return to him."

COMMENT: Three time he asked for a miracle. He did not give up.

22 The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he began to breath. 23 Elijah took the child down from the upper room and gave him to his mother, and said to her,"See, your son is alive." 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."

COMMENT: She didn't say this when the flour bowl was never empty or the oil jar used up.

What does it take for you to believe? When do you have enough evidence?

1 Kings 18 - RWB Paraphrase (46 V)
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Elijah Challenges Israel to Choose Between the Lord And Baal
1 After many days the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth." 2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.

3 Ahab called for Obadiah who was over his household. This man feared the LORD greatly. 4 Jezebel had destroyed the prophets of the LORD, but Obadiah had hidden a hundred of them by fifties in a cave and brought them bread and water.

5 Ahab told Obadiah to go throughout the land looking for springs of water and maybe some grass for the horses and mules and some of the cattle. 6 So they divided the land between them and went separately. 7 As Obadiah was looking for grass and water, Elijah met him. When Obadiah recognized Elijah, he fell on his face and said, "Is it you, Elijah my master?" 8 He answered, "It is I. Go tell your master that you have found me." 9 Obadiah replied, "What sin have I committed that you put me in danger of Ahab killing me?" 10 "He has searched for you in every nation, but you could not be found." 11 "And now you say to tell Ahab that you are here." 12 "Perhaps after I leave the Spirit of the LORD will take you to some place I do not know of. When I tell Ahab you are here, and you are not, he will kill me, even though I have feared the LORD from my youth." 13 "Haven't you heard that Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD, and I hid one hundred of them by fifties in a cave and brought them bread and water?" 14 "And now you are saying that I should tell my master that Elijah is here. He will surely kill me." 15 Elijah said, "As the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today." 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is this you, you troubler of Israel?" 18 Elijah replied, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have. You have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals." 19 "Now gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel. Bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." 20 So Ahab sent a message to all the children of Israel and brought all the prophets together at Mount Carmel.

21 Elijah arrived and came near to all the people. He said, "How long will you deliberate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. If Baal, then follow him." But the people did not answer him. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I am one prophet of the LORD, but there are 450 prophets of Baal." 23 "Let them give us two oxen. They can choose one for themselves and place it on the wood. But they must not put fire under it. I will prepare the other ox, laying in on the wood, and I will put no fire under it." 24 "Then let the prophets of Baal call on him, and I will call on the name of the LORD. And the God that answers by fire, He is God." And all he people said, "It is well spoken." 25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are many of you, choose one ox for yourself and prepare it first. Call on the name of your god but do not yourself put any fire under it." 26 So they took the ox they had chosen and prepared it. They then called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us." But no voice answered though they leaped about the altar they had made. 27 At about noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Call louder. He is a god and is occupied with something, or maybe he is on a journey. He might even be asleep and need to be awakened." 28 So they cried all the louder, and cut themselves with swords and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed out of them. 29 They went on like this until the time of the evening sacrifice in Israel. No one answered them or paid any attention to their machinations.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to where he stood. They watched him repair the altar of the LORD, for it had been torn down.

COMMENT: Josephus says that Elijah was inviting the people to come close that they might witness that no fire was secretly placed under the alter.

31 He took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the LORD had said, "Israel shall be your name."

COMMENT: Even though Israel and Judah were two separate nations, Elijah was demonstrating that there were still twelve tribes who belonged to God.

32 Using these stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed.

COMMENT: A measure is uncertain in quantity to us. We know that the trench must have been large enough to make an impression on the people.

33 He arranged the wood on the altar and cut up the ox and laid it on top of the wood. He told the people, "Fill four barrels of water and pour it over the burnt offering and the wood." 34 Then he said, "Do it a second time, " and then he said, "Do it a third time." 35 The water ran over the sacrifice and the wood and ran down into the trench around the altar.

COMMENT: Elijah wanted it to be very clear that he was not lighting the fire that would consume this sacrifice.

36 It was the time when the evening sacrifice was given at the tabernacle, and Elijah the prophet came near to the altar and said, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant and I have done these things according to Your instruction."

COMMENT: Here we are told that Elijah didn't do any of this on his own, but was following what the Lord had told him to do.

37 "Hear me, O LORD, so that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You may turn their hearts back to You."

38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, even the stones and the dust, and it even licked up the water in the trench.

COMMENT: It would seem that the fire from the Lord left a hole in the ground where the altar had stood.

39 When all the people saw this happen, they fell on their faces and said, "The LORD, He is God. The LORD, He is God."

COMMENT: the meaning of Elijah is "Yahweh is God."

40 Then Elijah said to the people, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let even one of them escape." So they seized them and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there.

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go eat and drink, for I hear the sound of abundant rain." 42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel and cast himself down upon the earth, with his face between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go look toward the sea and tell me what you see." So his servant went and looked, and came back, saying, "I didn't see anything." Seven time Elijah sent him back for another look. 44 And it came about that after the seventh time, he came back, saying, "I see a small cloud about the size of a man's hand coming up from the sea." Then Elijah said to him, "Go to Ahab and say, 'Prepare your chariot and head for home before the heavy rain stops you.'" 45 In a short time the sky became black with dark clouds and wind, and a great rain fell. And Ahab rode for Jezreel. 46 The hand of the LORD was on Elijah as he hitched up his robe and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

1 Kings 19 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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Elijah Runs Away From Jezebel
1 Ahab came home and told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, including the slaying of the prophets of Baal. 2 Then Jezebel sent a message to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more so if by tomorrow about this time your life does not end like that of the prophets of Baal." 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. He went south to Beersheba in Judah where he left his servant. 4 He then went another day's journey into the wilderness and sat down under a juniper tree. It was there that he asked that he might die. He said, "It is enough, O LORD. Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." 5 He lay down and slept under the juniper tree. After a time he felt an angel touch him. He said to Elijah, "Get up and eat." 6 Elijah looked and saw a bread cake baking on hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate and drank. Then he and lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came a second time and touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too great for you." 8 So Elijah arose, ate and drank, and in the strength of that food went forty days and forty nights to get to Horeb, the mountain of God.

9 He came to a cave. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10 He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. The children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left and they are seeking my life." 11 Then God said, "Go stand on the mountain before the LORD." And the LORD passed by! A great and strong wind was rending the mountain, blowing pieces of rock about. But the LORD was not in the wind. The wind was followed by an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. Then after the fire he heard a gentle blowing. 13 When heard this, he wrapped his face in his mantle and stood in the entrance to the cave. And behold, a voice came to him, asking, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

COMMENT: The second time God asked Elijah this question.

14 And he answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left, and they seek to take my life." 15 The LORD said to him, "Go by way of the wilderness to Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael king over Syria." 16 "Also, anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel. And you shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah to be prophet in your place."

COMMENT: So Elijah has been told that he is to be replaced and who that will be.

17 "It shall come to pass that the one who escapes the sword of Hazael shall be put to death by Jehu. And the one who escapes Jehu, Elisha shall put to death." 18 "I still have seven thousand in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal or kissed him."

19 So Elijah departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat while he and his servants were plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. As he passed by Elisha he threw his mantle on him. 20 Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah, saying, "Please let me kiss my father and mother. Then I will follow you." Elijah said to him, "Go back, for what have I done to you?"

21 So Elisha returned from following Elijah and sacrificed the oxen, boiling their flesh using the yoke and other implements of the oxen to cook it, and gave it to the people to eat. Then he arose and followed Elijah and served him.

1 Kings 20 - RWB Paraphrase (43 V)
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Benhadad of Syria Is Defeated But Ahab Lets Him Live
1 During Ahab's reign over Israel, Benhadad the king of Syria, gathered his entire army, a confederation of thirty two kings with chariots and horses and besieged Samaria. 2 He sent messengers to Ahab, saying, "Thus says Benhadad," 3 "your silver and gold are mine, as are your most beautiful wives and children." 4 Ahab replied, "I am yours as is all that I have." 5 Then Benhadad's messengers came again to Ahab saying, "I have said I will come and take your silver and gold and your wives and children." 6 "So about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to search your house and those of your servants, and I will take whatever I want." 7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land asked them what he could do about the king of Syria and his plan to plunder Israel. 8 All the elders advised him to neither listen or consent to his demands. 9 So the king told Benhadad's messengers that at first he had consented to his demands but now he could not agree to what was being demanded. 10 Benhadad sent a message back, saying, "May the gods do to me and more so if the dust of Samaria will be nothing more than a handful for each of my people." 11 The king of Israel sent back the following reply: "A person who is putting on his armor should not boast like the one who is taking it off." 12 Benhadad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings in their temporary shelters. He said, "Prepare to take the city." 13 At this time a prophet approached Israel and said, "Thus says the LORD. Have you seen this great multitude? Today I will deliver them into your hand you shall know that I am the LORD." 14 Ahab asked, "By whom will this be done?" The prophet said, "By the young men of the princes of the provinces." Then Ahab said, "Who shall begin the battle?" And the prophet answered, "You." 15 So he called up the young men of the princes of the provinces. They numbered two hundred and thirty two. And besides them came seven thousand of Israel.

16 They went out at noon, while Benhadad was getting drunk in his temporary shelters with his thirty two kings who had come to help him. 17 The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first. Benhadad was told that men had come out from Syria. 18 He replied, "Whether they have come out for peace, or for war, take them alive." 19 So the young men of the princes of the provinces came on followed by the army. 20 They each killed an enemy soldier and the Syrians fled. Israel pursued them but Benhadad escaped on a horse with the horsemen. 21 The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.

22 Then the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "Go and strengthen yourself and improve your defenses for at the beginning of the next year the king of Syria will come against you again."

23 The servants of the king of Syria said to him, "The gods of Israel are gods of the hills. That is why they were stronger than us. Let's fight against them on the plain. Then we will surely win." 24 "Replace the kings with captains," 25 "and muster an army exactly like the one you lost. When we fight them on the plain, surely we will be stronger." And he listened to them.

26 At the turn of the year, Benhadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 The children of Israel were mustered and provisioned, and went out to meet them. The children of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. 28 Then a man of God came to them saying, "The LORD says that because the Syrians think the LORD is God of only the hills and not the valleys, I will deliver this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD."

29 So they camped against each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle began and the children of Israel killed 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day. 30 The rest fled into the city of Aphek. Once there, a wall fell on about 27,000 men. Benhadad went into an inner chamber of the city. 31 His servants said to him, "We have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will let us live." 32 So they came to the king of Israel wearing sackcloth on their loins and ropes on their heads, and said, "Your servant Benhadad has asked you to let him live." And the king of Israel said, "Is he still alive? He is my brother." 33 When he called Benhadad his brother, they took it as a good omen. The king of Israel said to bring Benhadad to him, and when he came out, he took him up into his chariot. 34 Benhadad said, "I will restore the cities which my father took from your father. Ahab made a covenant with him and let him go."

35 Now a man of the sons of the prophets speaking by the word of the LORD, asked another to strike him. But he refused. 36 Then he said to him, "Because you have not listened to the voice of the LORD, as soon as you leave a lion will kill you." And when he left he was killed by a lion.

37 Then he found another man and said, "Please strike me." And the man struck and wounded him. 38 Then the prophet departed and waited for the king. He disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 As the king passed by, the prophet called to the king and said, "Your servant went into the midst of the battle and was told to guard a man they brought to him. They said, 'If you lose him you must pay a talent of silver.'" 40 "So while I was busy he got away." The king said to him, "So shall your judgment be, just as you have declared it." 41 Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes and the king recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 The prophet said to the king, "The LORD says, because you have let the man get away that I had devoted to destruction, your life shall be given for his life and your people for his people." 43 So the king of Israel went home to Samaria sullen and vexed.

1 Kings 21 - RWB Paraphrase (29 V)
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Ahab Took Naboth's Vineyard
1 Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel next to king Ahab's palace in Samaria. 2 Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "I need your vineyard for a vegetable garden because it is close to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in it place. Or if you prefer, I will give you the price of its value." 3 But Naboth said, "God forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." 4 Ahab went to his house sullen and vexed because Naboth would not let him have the vineyard. He lay down on his bed with his face to the wall and would not eat. 5 Jezebel came to him and said, "Why are you sullen and unwilling to eat?" 6 He said, "Because Naboth the Jezreelite will not trade vineyards or take money for his." 7 Jezebel said, "Do you not reign over Israel? Get up. Eat bread and let your heart be joyful. I will get you Naboth's vineyard."

8 So Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal. She sent them to the elders of the city where Naboth lived. 9 In the letters she said, "Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the table." 10 Seat two worthless men on either side of him and have them testify against him, saying, "You cursed God and king." Then take him out and stone him to death. 11 So the men of the city, the elders and the nobles of Naboth's city did as Jezebel had directed in her letters to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the other people. 13 Then the two worthless men came in and sat beside him. They testified against him and before everyone, saying that he had cursed God and the king. So the people took Naboth outside the city and stoned him to death. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel that Naboth had been stoned to death.

15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Now you may take possession of Naboth's vineyard which he would not let you have. He is dead." 16 When Ahab heard this, he went down to take possession of Naboth's vineyard.

17 The word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 "Arise, go down to meet king Ahab in Samaria. He is taking possession of Naboth's vineyard." 19 "Tell him, thus says the LORD, 'Have you murdered in order to gain possession?' The LORD says, 'In the place where the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will also lick up your blood.'." 20 Ahab replied, "So you have found me, O my enemy." And Elijah said, "I have found you, because you sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD." 21 "The LORD says, 'I will bring evil upon you and utterly destroy you. I will cut off every last male that is yours, slave or free.'." 22 "I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the things you have done to provoke me to anger and how you have made Israel sin." 23 "The LORD also has this to say of Jezebel. The dogs will eat her in Jezreel." 24 "Those who belong to Ahab and die in the city, will be eaten by dogs. Those who dies in the field will be eaten by birds."

25 "Surely there is no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the LORD's sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him." 26 "He acted very abominably following idols, like those of the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel."

27 When Ahab heard all these words, he tore his clothing, put on sackcloth and fasted. And he remained despondent.

28 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 "Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? I will not bring this evil on him while he lives, but instead, on his house in his son's days."

1 Kings 22 - RWB Paraphrase (53 V)
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Ahab Dies in Battle
1 For three years there was no war between Syria and Israel. 2 Then in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came to visit Israel. 3 The king of Israel had been talking to his servants about the fact that Syria had not given RamothGilead back to Israel and nothing had been done about it. 4 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, will you go into battle against Syria over RamothGilead? Jehoshaphat said, "I am your brother and we are one people." 5 "But, " he said, "First we must inquire of the LORD." 6 So the king of Israel gathered the prophets together. There were about four hundred of them. He asked them, "Shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle?" They answered, "Go up, for the LORD shall deliver it into your hand." 7 But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD that we may inquire of him?" 8 The king of Israel replied, "There is one by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him. Because he does not prophesy anything good concerning me." 9 So the king of Israel sent an officer to bring Micaiah the son of Imlah. 10 Both kings were sitting on thrones at the threshing floor outside of Samaria. They were wearing their robes and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made himself horns of iron and said, "Thus says the LORD, with these you will gore the Syrians until they are gone." 12 All the prophets talked the same way, saying "Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper, for the LORD will give it into the king's hand."

13 Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, "The words of the other prophets are all favorable. Please let your words be the same." 14 But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, I can only say what the LORD says to me." 15 When he came to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or not?" And Micaiah answered him, "Go up and succeed. The LORD will give it into your hand." 16 Then the king said to him, "Just tell me the truth in the name of the LORD." 17 So Micaiah said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains. They were like sheep without a shepherd. The LORD said, 'These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.'."

18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he would prophesy evil concerning me?" 19 Micaiah said, "Hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing around him." 20 The LORD said, "Who will entice Ahab to go to Ramothgilead and fall?" Several ideas were put forth. 21 "Then one came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I have an idea.'" 22 "The LORD said, 'What is your idea?' And he said, 'I will deceive him through his prophets.'." 23 "Now therefore, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these prophets, but the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you." 24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came over and struck Micaiah on his face and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD leave me to speak to you?" 25 Micaiah said, "Behold, you shall understand on the day when you hide in the inner room." 26 Then the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son." 27 "Tell him to put this man in prison and feed sparingly with bread and water until I safely return." 28 Micaiah said, "If you return safely, the LORD has not spoken by me. Listen, everyone." 29 So Ahab and Jehoshaphat went up against Ramothgilead.

30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself when I go into battle. You wear your robes. 31 The king of Syria had told his commanders to only look for the king of Israel. 32 When they saw Jehoshaphat they thought he was the king of Israel. As they went after him, he cried out. 33 When they saw that he was not the king of Israel, the stopped pursuing him. 34 A certain man drew his bow and at random shot the king of Israel through a joint in his armor. He told his driver, "Take me out of the battle. I am severely wounded." 35 The battle raged all that day while the king of Israel sat watching, being propped up in his chariot. The blood ran from his wound down to the floor of his chariot. 36 Close to sunset a cry passed throughout the army, saying, "Every man to his city, every man to his country."

37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria where they buried him. 38 They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria where the harlots bathed, and the dogs licked up the blood as the LORD had said they would.

39 The rest of Ahab's acts, the ivory house he built and the cities he built, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

41 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in Ahab's fourth year as king of Israel. 42 He was thirty five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah. She the daughter of Shilhi. 43 Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of Asa his father. He did what was right in the sight of the LORD. But he did not take away the high places where the people still sacrificed and burned incense. 44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with Ahab, king of Israel. 45 The rest of Jehoshaphat's acts and his might in war are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. 46 He expelled from the land the remnant of the sodomites who remained in the days of his father Asa.

47 At that time there was a deputy but no king in Edom.

48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not sail because they were broken up at Eziongeber. 49 Ahaziah the son of Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to let his servants sail on the ships, too. But Jehoshaphat was not willing. 50 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and Jehoram his son became king.

51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He reigned two years over Israel. 52 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the ways of his father and mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. 53 He served Baal and provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger by doing all that his father had done.

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