2 Chronicles 7-12

II Chronicles 7

¹And when Solomon had ended praying, the fire came down from the heavens and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house.

²And the priests could not enter into the house of Jehovah, because the glory of Jehovah filled Jehovah's house.

³And all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of Jehovah upon the house, and bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshipped and thanked Jehovah: For he is good, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever.

⁴And the king and all the people offered sacrifices before Jehovah.

⁵And king Solomon sacrificed a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

⁶And the priests stood in their charges, and the Levites with Jehovah's instruments of music, which David the king had made to praise Jehovah, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever, when David praised by their means; and the priests sounded the trumpets opposite to them, and all Israel stood.

⁷And Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah; for there he offered the burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt-offerings and the oblations and the fat.

⁸And at that time Solomon held the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Hamath unto the torrent of Egypt.

⁹And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

¹⁰And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that Jehovah had done to David and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

¹¹And Solomon completed the house of Jehovah, and the king's house; and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of Jehovah, and in his own house, he did prosperously.

¹²Then Jehovah appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen for myself this place for a house of sacrifice.

¹³If I shut up the heavens that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

¹⁴and my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.

¹⁵Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attentive to the prayer made in this place;

¹⁶for I have now chosen and hallowed this house, that my name may be there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

¹⁷And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances;

¹⁸then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to rule over Israel.

¹⁹But if ye turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them;

²⁰then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed to my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

²¹And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passes by it; so that he shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house?

²²And they shall say, Because they forsook Jehovah the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and have attached themselves to other gods, and have worshipped them and served them; therefore he has brought upon them all this evil.

II Chronicles 8

¹And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of Jehovah and his own house,

²that the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

³And Solomon went to Hamath-Zobah, and overcame it.

⁴And he built Tadmor, in the wilderness, and all the store-cities, which he built in Hamath.

⁵And he built upper Beth-Horon and lower Beth-Horon, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

⁶and Baalath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for chariots, and the cities for the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

⁷All the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel,

⁸their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel had not destroyed, upon them did Solomon impose tribute-service until this day.

⁹But of the children of Israel, of them did Solomon make no bondmen for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and his horsemen.

¹⁰And these were the chief of king Solomon's superintendents, two hundred and fifty, that ruled over the people.

¹¹And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David to the house which 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 to which the ark of Jehovah has come.

¹²Then Solomon offered up burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah, which he had built before the porch;

¹³even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and at the set feasts, three times in the year, -- at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles.

¹⁴And he appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their charges, to praise and serve before the priests, as the duty of every day required; and the doorkeepers by their divisions at every gate: for such was the commandment of David the man of God;

¹⁵and they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and the Levites concerning any matter, nor concerning the treasures.

¹⁶And all the work of Solomon was prepared, to the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah and to its completion. So the house of Jehovah was finished.

¹⁷Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, on the seashore in the land of Edom.

¹⁸And Huram sent him by his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

II Chronicles 9

¹And the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and came to Jerusalem to prove Solomon with enigmas; with a very great train, and camels that bore spices and gold in great abundance, and precious stones; and she came to Solomon, and spoke with him of all that was in her heart.

²And Solomon explained to her all she spoke of, and there was not a thing hidden from Solomon that he did not explain to her.

³And when the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

⁴and the food of his table, and the deportment of his servants, and the order of service of his attendants and their apparel, and his cupbearers and their apparel, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her.

⁵And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine affairs and of thy wisdom;

⁶but I gave no credit to their words, until I came and mine eyes had seen; and behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceedest the report that I heard.

⁷Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom!

⁸Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king to Jehovah thy God! Because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore did he make thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

⁹And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones; neither was there any such spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

¹⁰(And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought sandal-wood and precious stones.

¹¹And the king made of the sandal-wood stairs for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, and harps and lutes for the singers. And there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.)

¹²And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what she had brought to the king. And she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

¹³And the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

¹⁴besides what dealers and merchants brought, and what all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought of gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold, -- he applied six hundred shekels of beaten gold to one target;

¹⁶and three hundred shields of beaten gold, -- he applied three hundred shekels of gold to one shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold;

¹⁸and the throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold fastened to the throne; and there were arms on each side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms;

¹⁹and 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.

²⁰And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of precious gold: silver was not of the least account in the days of Solomon.

²¹For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: once in three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

²²And king Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

²⁴And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing, armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year.

²⁵And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot-cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

²⁶And he ruled over all the kings from the river as far as the land of the Philistines, and up to the border of Egypt.

²⁷And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he as the sycamores that are in the lowland for abundance.

²⁸And they brought to Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

²⁹And the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last, are they not written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

³⁰And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

³¹And Solomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

II Chronicles 10

¹And Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

²And it came to pass when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (now he was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon) that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.

³And they sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam saying,

⁴Thy father made our yoke grievous; and now lighten the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

⁵And he said to them, Come again to me after three days. And the people departed.

⁶And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, How do ye advise to return answer to this people?

⁷And they spoke to 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.

⁸But he forsook the advice of the old men which they had given him, and consulted with the young men, who had grown up with him, that stood before him.

⁹And he said to them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me saying, Lighten the yoke which thy father put upon us?

¹⁰And the young men that had grown up with him spoke to him saying, Thus shalt thou say to the people who have spoken to thee saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, and lighten thou it for us, -- thus shalt thou say to them: My little finger is thicker than my father's loins;

¹¹and whereas my father laid a heavy yoke upon you, *I* will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but *I* will chastise you with scorpions.

¹²And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed saying, Come again to me on the third day.

¹³And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the advice of the old men,

¹⁴and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but *I* will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but *I* will chastise you with scorpions.

¹⁵So the king hearkened not to the people; for it was brought about by God, that Jehovah might give effect to his word, which he spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶And all Israel saw that the king hearkened not to them; and the people answered the king saying, What portion have we in David? and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel. Now see to thine own house, David! And all Israel went to their tents.

¹⁷But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

¹⁸And king Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the levy; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. And king Rehoboam hastened to mount his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹And Israel rebelled against the house of David, unto this day.

II Chronicles 11

¹And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem; and he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men apt for war, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

²But the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

³Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

⁴Thus saith Jehovah: Go not up, nor fight with your brethren; return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. And they hearkened to the words of Jehovah, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.

⁶And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

⁷and Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam,

⁸and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

⁹and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

¹⁰and Zorah, and Ajalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities.

¹¹And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of victuals, and of oil and wine;

¹²and in every several city, targets and spears, and made them exceedingly strong. And Judah and Benjamin were his.

¹³And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their districts;

¹⁴for the Levites left their suburbs and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from exercising the priesthood to Jehovah;

¹⁵and he ordained for himself priests for the high places, and for the he-goats and for the calves that he had made.

¹⁶-- And after them, those out of all the tribes of Israel that set their heart to seek Jehovah the God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to Jehovah the God of their fathers.

¹⁷And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong three years; for during three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

¹⁸And Rehoboam took Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David as wife, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse.

¹⁹And she bore him children: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

²¹And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines; for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²²And Rehoboam established Abijah the son of Maachah at the head, to be ruler among his brethren; for he thought to make him king.

²³And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities; and he gave them food in abundance. And he desired for them a multitude of wives.

II Chronicles 12

¹And it came to pass when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and when he had become strong, that he forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him.

²And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, because they had transgressed against Jehovah, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem,

³with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt: Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians.

⁴And he took the fortified cities that belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.

⁵And Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah that had gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, Thus saith Jehovah: Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

⁶And the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, Jehovah is righteous.

⁷And when Jehovah saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves: I will not destroy them, but I will grant them a little deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

⁸Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

⁹And Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house; he took away all; and he took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made.

¹⁰And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the couriers who kept the entrance of the king's house.

¹¹And it was so, that as often as the king entered into the house of Jehovah, the couriers came and fetched them, and brought them again into the chamber of the couriers.

¹²And when he humbled himself, the anger of Jehovah turned away from him, that he would not destroy him altogether; and also in Judah there were good things.

¹³And king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned; for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

¹⁴And he did evil, for he applied not his heart to seek Jehovah.

¹⁵And the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the words of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer, in the genealogical registers? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

¹⁶And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And Abijah his son reigned in his stead.