Chapter 2

14:006:030 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)

14:006:031 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

14:006:032 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;

14:006:033 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

14:006:034 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

14:006:035 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

14:006:036 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

14:006:037 Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

14:006:038 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

14:006:039 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

14:006:040 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

14:006:041 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

14:006:042 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

14:007:001 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

14:007:002 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house.

14:007:003 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

14:007:004 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.

14:007:005 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

14:007:006 And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

14:007:007 Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.

14:007:008 Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt.

14:007:009 And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

14:007:010 And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

14:007:011 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.

14:007:012 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

14:007:013 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

14:007:014 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

14:007:015 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

14:007:016 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

14:007:017 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

14:007:018 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

14:007:019 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

14:007:020 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

14:007:021 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

14:007:022 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

14:008:001 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

14:008:002 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

14:008:003 And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

14:008:004 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

14:008:005 Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

14:008:006 And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

14:008:007 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,

14:008:008 But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

14:008:009 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

14:008:010 And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

14:008:011 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

14:008:012 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,

14:008:013 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

14:008:014 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

14:008:015 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

14:008:016 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.

14:008:017 Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.

14:008:018 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

14:009:001 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

14:009:002 And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.

14:009:003 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

14:009:004 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

14:009:005 And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

14:009:006 Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

14:009:007 Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

14:009:008 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

14:009:009 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

14:009:010 And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

14:009:011 And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

14:009:012 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.

14:009:013 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

14:009:014 Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

14:009:015 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

14:009:016 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

14:009:017 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

14:009:018 And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:

14:009:019 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.

14:009:020 And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

14:009:021 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

14:009:022 And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

14:009:023 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

14:009:024 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

14:009:025 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

14:009:026 And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

14:009:027 And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.

14:009:028 And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

14:009:029 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

14:009:030 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

14:009:031 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

14:010:001 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all Israel come to make him king.

14:010:002 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, whither he fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.

14:010:003 And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying,

14:010:004 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

14:010:005 And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.

14:010:006 And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?

14:010:007 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.

14:010:008 But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him.

14:010:009 And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us?

14:010:010 And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

14:010:011 For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

14:010:012 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.

14:010:013 And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men,

14:010:014 And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

14:010:015 So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

14:010:016 And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents.

14:010:017 But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

14:010:018 Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

14:010:019 And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

14:011:001 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

14:011:002 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

14:011:003 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

14:011:004 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

14:011:005 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.

14:011:006 He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

14:011:007 And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,

14:011:008 And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

14:011:009 And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

14:011:010 And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities.

14:011:011 And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.

14:011:012 And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

14:011:013 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts.

14:011:014 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:

14:011:015 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

14:011:016 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

14:011:017 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

14:011:018 And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;

14:011:019 Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.

14:011:020 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

14:011:021 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

14:011:022 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.

14:011:023 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.