King Solomon
1 Kings 1 - 11

	Introduction
		When King David learns that Bathsheba is conceiving his child, he develops a plan to have her husband Uriah killed by the Philistines. When Uriah is killed, David marries Bathseba and they have a son. Because of David's evil plan to have Uriah killed just so he can have Bathsheba for his own, the LORD strikes their son, and it dies. After the death of their son, David
	goes to comfort his wife Bathsheba. He goes and sleeps with her; and she conceives and bears him a son, who is named Solomon. The LORD loves him and sends the prophet Nathan to name him Jedidiah, on behalf of the LORD.
	The Ambition of Adonijah In David’s old age, his servants have to spread covers over him but still he could not keep warm. So his servants suggest to King David to find a young virgin to attend to him. They reason that if she sleeps with King David, he will be kept warm. So they seek out and find a beautiful girl named Abishag the Shunamite, whom they bring to the king. The young maiden nurses the king and cares for him, but the king does not have relations with her. At this time, Adonijah, son of Haggith, begins to display his ambition to be king. He acquires chariots, drivers, and fifty henchmen. His father, however, does not rebuke him, nor does he ask why he is doing this. Adonijah, also a very handsome man and next in age to Absalom by the same mother,  confers with Joab, son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and they support him. However, Zadok the priest, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, and Shimei and his companions, the pick of David's army, do not side with Adonijah. Then Adonijah slaughters sheep, oxen, and fatlings at the stone Zoheleth, near En-rogel, and invites all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah. However he does not invite the prophet Nathan, nor does he invite Benaiah, the pick of the army, nor his brother Solomon. Then Nathan tells Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, of Adonijah’s ambitions to become king without the knowledge of king David. Nathan advises Bathsheba to go before King David and remind the King of his promise to make Solomon king after him to sit upon his throne. Nathan tells her that while she is still there speaking to the king, he will come in and confirm what she has said. The Proclamation of Solomon King So Bathsheba goes before the king in his room, while Abishag the Shunamite is attending him, and bows in homage to the king. The King asks her what she wishes and she replies by reminding him of his promise her by the LORD that her son Solomon should reign after him and sit upon his throne. Then she says that now Adonijah has declared himself king without David’s knowledge. Bathsheba tells King David that Adonijah has slaughtered oxen, fatlings, and sheep in great numbers; he has invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the general of the army, but not Solomon. She tells the King that all Israel is waiting for him to make known to them who is to sit on the throne after him. Bathsheba then adds that if he does not do this, when King David dies she and her son Solomon will be considered criminals. While she is still speaking to the king, the prophet Nathan comes in, and after he bows in homage, he asks the King if he has indeed decided that Adonijah is to reign after him and sit on his throne, since today Adonijah slaughtered oxen, fatlings, and sheep in great numbers. Then nathan says that Adonijah has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and while they ate and drunk in his company they shout, “Long live King Adonijah!” Nathan continues that he was not invited to this, nor was Zadok the priest, nor was Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, nor his son Solomon. He further asks if this was done by his royal master's order without Nathan being told who was to succeed his throne.
	So King David orders for Bathsheba to come back in. When she re-enters the king's presence and stands before him, the king swears that as the LORD lives, who has delivered him from all distress, this very day he will fulfill the oath he swore to her by the LORD, the God of Israel, that her son Solomon should reign after him and should sit upon his throne in his place. King David summons Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, son of Jehoiada. When they enter the king's presence, he orders them to take with them the royal attendants, and mount his son Solomon upon his own mule and escort him down to Gihon. There, the King continues, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him king of Israel, and they shall then blow the horn and cry, 'Long live King Solomon!'
	Then the King says that when they come back in his train, he is to go in and sit upon his throne and reign in his place. He designates him ruler of Israel and of Judah. They all obey the Kings commands and so Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and Pelethites go down, and mounting Solomon on King David's mule, escort him to Gihon. There Zadok the priest takes the horn of oil from the tent and anoints Solomon. They blow the horn and all the people shout, "Long live King Solomon!" Then all the people go up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing so much as to split open the earth with their shouting. Adonijah and all the guests who are with him hear the rejoicing, just as they end their banquet. When Joab hears the sound of the horn, he asks what the uproar in the city is all about. As he is speaking, Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest, arrives and tells Adonijah the noise they hear is that of the people rejoicing because today King David made Solomon king. All the guests of Adonijah leave in terror, each going his own way, and in fear of Solomon, Adonijah also goes and seizes the horns of the altar. He then says that he will only leave if King Solomon swears that he will not kill him. When Solomon hears of what Adonijah has said at the altar Solomon says that if he proves himself worthy, not a hair shall fall from his head. But if he is guilty of crime, he shall die. King Solomon orders him brought down from the altar, and when he comes and pays homage to the king, Solomon tells him to go to his home. The Death of King David When the time of David's death draws near, he gives instructions to his son Solomon to take courage and be a man when he is gone. David also says that Solomon must keep the mandate of the LORD and follow his ways and observe his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that he may succeed in whatever he does. David continues that the LORD has promised him that if his sons so conduct themselves and remain faithful to Him with their whole heart and with their whole soul, He shall always have someone in the line of David on the throne of Israel. David reminds Solomon that Joab slew the two generals of Israel's armies, Abner, son of Ner, and Amasa, son of Jether. David continues that Joab took revenge for the blood of war in a time of peace. He advises Solomon to act with the wisdom he possesses but he must not allow Joab to go down to the grave in peaceful old age. He also tells Solomon to be kind to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and have them eat at his table, for they received him kindly when he was fleeing his brother Absalom. David also spoke of Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed him balefully during his escape to Mahanaim. Because Shimei came down to meet him at the Jordan, David swore to him by the LORD that he will not be put to death. Then David says that Solomon must not let him go unpunished, and deal with him to send down his hoary head in blood to the grave. After David reigns over Israel and Judah for forty years, he dies and is buried in the City of David. Consolidating Solomon's Kingdom When Solomon is seated on the throne of his father David, with his sovereignty firmly established, Adonijah, son of Haggith, goes to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon to ask her to speak for him before King Solomon to give him Abishag the Shunamite for his wife. Bathsheba tells him that she will speak to the king for him. So Bathsheba goes to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah and proceeds to tell Solomon of Adonijah’s request. But to King Solomon who inherited his father’s harem, asking for Abishag the Shunamite, and a concubine of King David and part of the king’s harem, Adonijah has undermined the security of Solomon's throne. Solomon says that this request will cost him his life. Then King Solomon sends Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, to strike Adonijah dead. Then the king tells Abiathar the priest, to leave his office of priest of the LORD and go to his land in Anathoth. Solomon continues that although he deserves to die for plotting with Adonijah, he will not die this time, because he carried the ark of the Lord GOD before his father David and shared in all the hardships his father endured. So Solomon deposes Abiathar from his office of priest of the LORD, thus fulfilling the prophecy which the LORD had made in Shiloh about the house of Eli. When the news comes to Joab, who had sided with Adonijah, though not with Absalom, he flees to the tent of the LORD and seizes the horns of the altar for refuge. Nevertheless, when King Solomon learns that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD and is at the altar, he sends Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, with the order to strike him down. Benaiah goes to the tent of the LORD and tells Joab to come out as the king ordered. Joab refuses and tells Benaiah that he will die there. Benaiah then reports to the king who tells him to go back and kill Joab at the altar. King Solomon continues that the LORD will hold him responsible for his own blood, because he struck down two men, Abner and Amasa, better and more just than he, and slew them with the sword without his father David's knowledge. So Benaiah goes back to the altar and strikes Joab down and kills him. The king then appoints Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, over the army in Joab’s place, and puts Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar. Then the king summons Shimei and tells him to build himself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and not to go anywhere else. He continues that if he leaves and cross the Kidron Valley, he shall die without fail. Shimei accepts the king’s orders and he stays in Jerusalem. But three years later, Shimei goes after his two servants who ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. When Solomon learns that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned, he orders Benaiah to kill Shimei.
	Solomon's Dream With the royal power firmly in his grasp, Solomon allies himself by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He brings his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, to the City of David, until he should finish building his palace, and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem. At that time, the people, including King Solomon, offer sacrifices on the high places, for up to that time no temple had been built to the name of the LORD.
	The king goes to Gibeon, the most renowned high place, to offer sacrifice there. Upon its altar Solomon offers a thousand holocausts. In Gibeon the LORD appears to Solomon in a dream at night, telling him to ask something of God and it will be given to him. Solomon answers that he is just a youth and does not know at all how to act as a ruler of His people. Solomon asks the LORD to give him an understanding heart to judge His people and to distinguish right from wrong, so he can govern His people well. It pleases the LORD that Solomon did not ask for a long life for himself, or for riches, or for the life of his enemies, but for understanding so that he may know what is right. So the LORD grants Solomon his request and gives him a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like him before. In addition, the LORD gives Solomon that what he has not asked for, riches and glory that no other king will ever posses. The LORD continues that if he follows Him by keeping His statutes and commandments, as his father David did, He will give him a long life. When Solomon wakes from his dream, he goes to Jerusalem, stands before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offers holocausts and peace offerings, and gives a banquet for all his servants. The Wisdom of Solomon
	Later, two harlots come to the king seeking judgment. The first woman says that they live in the same house. She continues that she gave birth in the house while she was present and the other woman gave birth three days later. They were alone in the house. The first woman claims that the other woman’s child died during the night smothered by his mother. Then she continues that later that night the other woman got up and took her own son from her side while she was sleeping. Then she says that the other woman laid her dead son on her bosom and laid her own son in her bosom.     Then she continues that she found the dead child in the morning when she woke to nurse him. But when she examined the child in the morning light, she saw it was not the son whom she had borne. The second woman answers that that is not so, and claims that the living one is her son, the dead one is that of the first woman. Thus they argue before the king, one woman claiming that the living child is hers and the other claiming the living child is hers. Then the king calls for his sword and orders the living child to be cut in two. He orders further to give half to one and the other half to the other woman. The woman whose son it was, in her anguish, pleads with the king to give the living child to the first woman instead and not kill it! The first woman, however, says that it shall be neither hers nor the other’s and insists for the king to divide the child.
	The king then orders to give the second woman the living child and by no means kill it, for she is the mother.
	Solomon's Fame Grows When all Israel hear the judgment the king had given, they are in awe of him, because they see that the king has in him the wisdom of God for giving judgment. Solomon rules over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, down to the border of Egypt; they pay Solomon tribute and are his vassals as long as he lives. He rules over all the land west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and over all its kings, and there is peace on all his borders. Thus Judah and Israel live in security, every man under his vine or under his fig tree from Dan to Beer-sheba, as long as Solomon lives. His commissaries, one for each month, provide food for King Solomon and for all the guests at the royal table. God has indeed given Solomon wisdom and
	exceptional understanding and knowledge, surpassing everyone. His fame spreads throughout the neighboring nations. Men come to hear Solomon's wisdom from all nations, sent by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
	The Peaceful Reign   When Hiram, king of Tyre, hears that Solomon had been anointed king in place of his father, he sends an embassy to him; for Hiram has always been David's friend. Solomon proposes to Hiram that they build a temple of the LORD now that there is peace on all sides. Solomon asks Hiram to cut down cedar for him, and he will send his servants to work with Hiram’s. Solomon also proposes to pay Hiram whatever salary is needed.
	Hiram agrees with Solomon’s proposal and orders his servants to cut down whatever cedar and fir that will be needed for the temple. He plans to send the logs to the sea and build a raft to bring the timber wherever Solomon needs them. In return Solomon agrees to furnish provisions for Hiram’s household.
	Building the Temple of the LORD
	King Solomon conscripts thirty thousand workmen from all Israel. He sends them to Lebanon each  month in groups of ten thousand, so that they spend one month in the Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram is in charge of the draft. Solomon also has seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, in addition to three thousand three hundred overseers, answerable to Solomon's prefects for the work, directing the people engaged in the work. By order of the king, fine, large blocks are quarried to give the temple a foundation of hewn stone. Solomon's and Hiram's builders, along with the Gebalites, hew them out, and prepare the wood and stones for building the temple. In the four hundred and eightieth year from the departure of the Israelites from the land of Egypt,
	in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, the construction of the temple of the LORD begins.
	When Solomon finishes building the temple, its walls are lined from floor to ceiling beams with cedar paneling, and its floor are laid with fir planking. At the rear of the temple a space of twenty cubits is set off by cedar partitions from the floor to the rafters, enclosing the sanctuary, the holy of holies.     The nave, or part of the temple in front of the sanctuary, is forty cubits long. The cedar in the interior of the temple is cedar carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. In the innermost part of the temple is located the sanctuary to house the ark of the LORD'S covenant, twenty cubits long, twenty wide, and twenty high. Solomon overlays the interior of the temple with pure gold. He makes in front of the sanctuary a cedar altar, overlays it with gold, and loops it with golden chains. The entire temple is overlaid with gold so that it is completely covered with it; the whole
	altar before the sanctuary is also overlaid with gold. Solomon builds a temple like other before and all to the specification of the LORD, adorned with finest craftsmanship overlaid with gold. It took seven years to build the temple of the LORD. Solomon’s Palace His own palace Solomon completes after thirteen years of construction. He builds the hall called the Forest of Lebanon one hundred cubits long, fifty wide, and thirty high; it is supported by four rows of cedar columns, with cedar capitals upon the columns. Moreover, it has a ceiling of cedar above the beams resting on the columns. There are three window frames at either end, with windows in strict alignment. The posts of all the doorways are rectangular, and the doorways face each other, three at either end. The porch of the columned hall is fifty cubits long and thirty wide. The porch extends the width of the columned hall, and there is a canopy in front. He also builds the vestibule of the throne where he gives judgment, paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling beams. His living quarters are in another court, set in deeper than the tribunal and of the same construction. A palace like this tribunal is built for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had married. All these buildings are of fine stones, hewn to size and trimmed front and back with a saw, from the foundation to the bonding course. The great court is enclosed by three courses of hewn stones and a bonding course of cedar beams. So also are the inner court of the temple of the LORD and the temple porch. King Solomon also brings from Tyre a bronze worker of such abilities and skills that he is able to produce any work in bronze for King Solomon. When all the work undertaken by King Solomon in the temple of the LORD are completed, he brings in the dedicated offerings of his father David, putting the silver, gold, and other articles in the treasuries of the temple of the LORD.
	At the order of Solomon, the elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes, the princes in the ancestral houses of the Israelites, come to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD'S covenant from the city of David (which is Zion). All the men of Israel assemble before King Solomon during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month). When all the elders of Israel arrive, the priests take up the ark and they carry the ark of the LORD and the meeting tent with all the sacred vessels that were in the tent. King Solomon and the entire community of Israel present for the occasion sacrifice before the ark sheep and oxen too many to number or count.
	Then the priests bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary, the holy of holies of the temple. In the ark are the two stone tablets which Moses had put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites at their departure from the land of Egypt. When the priests leave the holy place, cloud fills the temple of the LORD.
	Then the king turns and greets the whole community of Israel as they stood. Then he declares that the promise that the LORD made to his father David that his son will build a temple to the honor of the LORD is fulfilled. Then Solomon stands before the altar of the LORD in the presence of the whole community of Israel, and stretching forth his hands toward heaven, prays aloud to the LORD and petitions Him to watch over all His people and to forgive them if they sin and repent. When Solomon finishes offering his prayer of petition to the LORD, he rises from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling, with his hands outstretched toward heaven. Then blesses the whole community of Israel, reminding them that they must be wholly devoted to the LORD, observe his statutes and keep his commandments.
	The king and all Israel with him offer sacrifices before the LORD. Then Solomon and all the Israelites, who had assembled in large numbers from Labo of Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt, celebrate the festival before the LORD for seven days. On the eighth day Solomon dismisses the people, who then return to their homes. After Solomon finishes building the temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and everything else that he planned, the LORD appears to him a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon.
	The LORD says to Solomon that He heard the prayer of petition which he offered in his presence, and that He has consecrated this temple which he has built. The LORD also tells Solomon that He confers His name upon it forever, and His eyes and His heart shall be there always. Then the LORD tells Solomon that if he lives in His presence as his father David lived, sincerely and uprightly, doing just as He commands, keeping His statutes and decrees, He will establish his throne of sovereignty over Israel forever, as He promised his father David. Then the LORD warns that if Solomon and his descendants ever withdraw from Him, fail to keep the commandments and statutes which He set before him, and proceed to venerate and worship strange gods, He will cut off Israel from the land He gave them and repudiate the temple He has consecrated to His honor.
	The Queen of Sheba The queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon's fame, comes to test him with subtle questions. She arrives in Jerusalem with a very large retinue, and with camels bearing spices, a large amount of gold, and precious stones. She comes to Solomon and questions him on every subject in which she is interested. King Solomon explains everything she asks about, and there remains nothing hidden from him that he could not explain to her.     When the queen of Sheba witnesses Solomon's great wisdom, the palace he had built, the food at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters, his banquet service, and the holocausts he offers in the temple of the LORD, she is left breathless. The queen of Sheba tells Solomon that his wisdom and deeds have surpassed the reports she received in her country, noting that happy are his men, happy are his servants, who stand before him always and listen to his wisdom. Then she gives the king one hundred and twenty gold talents, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again will anyone bring to King Solomon such an abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba.
	King Solomon gives the queen of Sheba everything she desires and asks for, besides such presents as are given her from Solomon's royal bounty. Then she returns with her servants to her own country. The gold that Solomon receives every year weigh six hundred and sixty-six gold talents, in addition to what comes from the Tarshish fleet, from the traffic of merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country. King Solomon continues to make the palace into a wondrous place. He has made an elaborately decorated throne out of ivory overlaid with gold. All King Solomon's drinking vessels and all the utensils in the hall of the Forest of Lebanon are made of pure gold. The king had a fleet of Tarshish ships at sea with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish ships would come with a cargo of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys. Thus King Solomon surpasses in riches and wisdom all the kings of the earth. And the whole world seeks audience with Solomon, to hear from him the wisdom which God had put in his heart. Each one brings with him his yearly tribute: silver or gold articles, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules.
	The Foolishness and Fall of Solomon
	King Solomon loves many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh, from nations with which the LORD had forbidden the Israelites to intermarry, because they will turn their hearts to their gods. But Solomon falls in love with them, anyway. When Solomon grows old his wives turn his heart to strange gods, and his heart is not entirely with the LORD as the heart of his father David had been. Solomon adores Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites, so he does evil in the sight of the LORD. He does not follow Him unreservedly as his father David had done.
	Solomon then builds a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab, and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites, on the hill opposite Jerusalem. He does the same for all his foreign wives who burn incense and sacrifice to their gods. The LORD, therefore, becomes angry with Solomon and reminds to Solomon that he has not kept His covenant and statutes which He commanded him, so He will deprive him of the kingdom and give it to his servant. The LORD then says that He will not do this in his lifetime for the sake of his father David, but during the lifetime of his son. And He tells Solomon that he will not take his whole kingdom but will leave his son one tribe for the sake of his father David and of Jerusalem.
	The Enemies of Solomon
	Then the LORD raises up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, who is of the royal line in Edom. Earlier, when David had conquered Edom, Joab, the general of the army, while going to bury the slain, puts to death every male in Edom. Hadad, who was then only a boy, escaped and fled toward Egypt with some Edomite servants of his father. The Edomites who escaped left Midian and passing through Paran, where they picked up additional men, they went into Egypt to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house, appointed him rations, and assigned him land. Hadad won great favor with Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of Queen Tahpenes, his own wife. Tahpenes' sister bore Hadad a son, Genubath. After his weaning, the queen kept him in Pharaoh's palace, where he then lived with Pharaoh's own sons. When Hadad in Egypt heard that David had died and that Joab, the general of the army, was dead, he asked Pharaoh to allow him to return to my own country. He was allowed. Then God raises up against Solomon another adversary, in Rezon, the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer, king of Zobah, when David defeated them. Rezon gathered men about him and became leader of a band, went to Damascus, settled there, and became king in Damascus. He was an enemy of Israel as long as Solomon lived; this added to the harm done by Hadad, who made a rift in Israel by becoming king over Edom.
	Solomon's servant Jeroboam, son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah with a widowed mother, Zeruah, also rebelled against the king. When King Solomon was building Millo, closing up the breach of his father's City of David, he noticed that Jeroboam, a man of means, was also an industrious young man, so he put him in charge of the entire labor force of the house of Joseph.   At one time Jeroboam meets the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite on the road. The two are alone in the area, and the prophet is wearing a new cloak. Ahijah takes off his new cloak, tears it into twelve pieces, and says to Jeroboam that the LORD will tear away the kingdom from Solomon's grasp and will give him ten of the tribes. He says that one tribe shall remain to Solomon for the sake of David and of Jerusalem. But the ten He will give Jeroboam, because Solomon has
	forsaken the LORD and has worshiped Astarte, goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, god of Moab, and Milcom, god of the Ammonites; he has not followed His ways or done according to His statutes and His decrees, as his father David did. The prophet continues that the LORD will have him reign over all that he desires and shall become king of Israel. The prophet continues that if he heeds all that He commands of him, follow His ways, and please Him by keeping His statutes and His commandments like David, the LORD will be with him. The Lord will establish for him, as He did for David, a lasting dynasty. The prophet tells Jeroboam that the LORD promises that He will punish David's line for this, but not forever. Then Solomon tries to have Jeroboam killed for his rebellion. Jeroboam escapes to King Shishak, in Egypt, where he remains until Solomon's death. Solomon reigns in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. Later when he died he is buried in his father's City of David, and his son Rehoboam succeeds him as king.
	The Divided Kingdom
	Rehoboam goes to Shechem, where all Israel had come to proclaim him king. And when Jeroboam son of Nebat, hears that Solomon has died, he returns from Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon. Then all Israel complain to Rehoboam that his father put a heavy burden on them. They then beg him to lighten the harsh service and the heavy burden and in return they will serve him. Rehoboam tells them to come
	back to him in three days, so the people depart. Then King Rehoboam consults the elders who had been in his father's service while he was alive, and asks answer they would advise him to give this people. The elders advice him that if he listens to the people, gives them the relief they are asking they will be his servants forever. But Rehoboam ignores the advice of the elders, and instead consults the young men who had grown up with him and are in his service.
	The young men advise him to make the burden of the people heavier. They also advise him to tell the people that if his father beat them with whips, he will beat them with scorpions. The people return to King Rehoboam on the third day, as he had instructed them to do. He then tells them what the young men had advised him ignoring the advice the elders. When all Israel see that the king will not listen to them, the people declare that they have no heritage in the son of Jesse, and leave for their tents turning away from the king, fulfilling the Word of the LORD.
	Since Rehoboam reigns over the Israelites who live in the cities of Judah, he sends Adoram, superintendent of the forced labor, but all Israel stone him to death. Rehoboam manages to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem, and Israel goes into rebellion against the house of David.
	Jeroboam, King of Israel
	When all Israel hear that Jeroboam has returned, they make him king over all Israel. None remain loyal to David's house except the tribe of Judah.     When he arrives in Jersusalem, Rehoboam gathers together all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, son of Solomon. However, the LORD speaks to Shemaiah, a man of God to tell Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to the house of Judah and to Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, that they must not march out to fight against their brother Israelites. Shemaiah continues that the LORD has said to let every man return home, for He has brought this about. They accept this message of the LORD and give up the expedition accordingly. Jeroboam builds up Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lives there. Then he leaves it and builds up Penuel.
	Jeroboam fears that the kingdom will return to David's house and the hearts of this people will return to their master, Rehoboam, king of Judah, if the people continue to go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they will kill Jeroboam. After taking counsel, the Jeroboam makes two calves of gold and presents them as their God. Then he tells the people they can now stop going up to Jerusalem. Jeroboam puts one of the golden calves in Bethel, the other in Dan. This caused the people to sin against the LORD for they are worshiping the calves that Jeroboam made. Jeroboam also builds temples on the high places and makes priests from among the people who are not Levites. Jeroboam establishes an arbitrary feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month to duplicate in Bethel the pilgrimage feast of Judah, with sacrifices to the calves he had made; and
	he stations in Bethel priests of the high places he had built. The Man of God During that arbitrary feast day on the fifteenth day of the eighth month Jeroboam ascends the altar he built in Bethel to offer sacrifice. Just then a man of God comes from Judah to Bethel as directed by the LORD, while Jeroboam is standing at the altar to offer sacrifice. The man of God cries out against the altar and announces that the LORD has said that a child shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, who shall slaughter upon it the priests of the high places.   Then he gives a sign that same day and says that to show that the LORD has spoken, the altar shall break up and the ashes on it shall be strewn about. When King Jeroboam hears the man of God crying out against the altar, he stretches forth his hand and orders to seize the man of God. But the hand he stretches forth against the man of God withers, so that he could not draw it back. Moreover, the altar breaks up and the ashes from it are strewn about! Then the king appeals to the man of God to intercede for him that he may be able to withdraw his hand. So the man of God appeals to the LORD, and the king recovers the normal use of his hand. Then the king invites the man of God to come home with him for some refreshment. The man of God refuses saying that the LORD has commanded him not to go with him, nor eat bread or drink water in this place. He says that he was also instructed not to return by the way he came. So he departs by another road and does not go back the way he had come to Bethel. There is an old prophet living in the city, whose sons come to tell what the man of God had done and said that day in Bethel. The father then leaves to go after the man of God. The old prophet catches up with the man of God, whom he finds seated under a terebinth. The old prophet lies to the man of God and tells him that the LORD has told him to bring him back to his house. So the man of God follows the old prophet and eats bread and drinks water there.
	But while they are sitting at table, the LORD speaks to the old prophet and says that the man of God has rebelled against his commandment not to return, eat bread and drink water there. So the LORD says that his corpse shall not be brought to the grave of his ancestors. After he eats bread and drinks water, the man of God again sets out. But a lion meets him on the road, and kills him. His corpse lays sprawled on the road, and the ass and the lion standing by it. When the old prophet hears of this he goes to the corpse, and brings it back to the city where he mourns for him and buries him. After he had buried him, he instructs his sons that when he dies to bury him at the grave of the man of God.
	The Fall of Jeroboam Even after this Jeroboam does not give up his evil ways, but again makes priests for the high places from among the common people and from whoever desires it. It is this sin on the part of the house of Jeroboam for which it will be cut off and destroyed from the earth. At that time Abijah, son of Jeroboam, becomes ill. So Jeroboam tells to his wife to disguise herself so that no one will recognize her as his wife. Then he tells her to go to Shiloh, and seek out the prophet Ahijah who predicted his reign over Israel. He tells her to take along ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of preserves to the prophet who will tell her what will happen to the child. So the wife of Jeroboam goes as she was instructed. When she reaches Shiloh she enters the house of Ahijah who at that time can no longer see because of his old age. However, before the woman came, the LORD had predicted to Ahijah that Jeroboam's wife, in disguise, is coming to consult him about her son, for he is sick. The LORD instructs Ahijah what to tell her.
	So when Ahijah hears the sound of her footsteps as she enters the door, he identifies her as the wife of Jeroboam and asks her why she is in disguise. Then he tells her sad news. He tells the wife of Jeroboam to tell Jeroboam that the LORD, God of Israel, says that even after He exalted him from among the people and made him ruler of His people Israel, even after He took the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to him, Jeroboam is neither faithful to the LORD, nor has he kept His commandments and followed Him with his whole heart. The LORD further says that Jeroboam has done even worse than all who preceded him, for he made for himself strange gods and molten images to provoke him while casting the LORD behind his back.
	Therefore, the prophet continues, LORD will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam. The LORD will cut off every male in Jeroboam's line, whether slave or freeman in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam completely, as though dung were being burned. The LORD further says that when one of Jeroboam's line dies in the city, dogs will devour him; when one of them dies in the field, he will be devoured by the birds of the sky. And the prophet tells the woman to go home. He tells her that as soon as she steps inside the city, the child will die, and all Israel will mourn him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam's line will be laid in the grave, since in him alone of Jeroboam's house has something pleasing to the LORD. Then he tells the wife of Jeroboam that at that very moment, the LORD will raise up a king of Israel who will destroy the house of Jeroboam and that the LORD will strike Israel and will pluck out Israel from this good land which he gave their fathers, scattering them beyond the River, because they made sacred poles for themselves and thus provoked the LORD. Finally he says that the LORD will give up Israel because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and caused Israel to commit. So Jeroboam's wife goes back and when she reaches crosses the threshold of her house, the child dies. He is buried with all Israel mourning him, as the LORD had prophesied through the prophet Ahijah. Jeroboam's reigns for twenty-two years. He dies and his son Nadab succeeds him as king. The Sins of Rehoboam Rehoboam, son of Solomon, reigns in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigns for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which, out of all the tribes of Israel, the LORD chose to be honored. His mother is the Ammonite named Naamah. But Judah does evil in the sight of the LORD, and by their sins anger him even more than their fathers had done. They, too, build for themselves high places, pillars, and sacred poles, upon every high hill and under every green tree. There are also cult prostitutes in the land. Judah imitates all the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD had cleared out of the Israelites' way. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, attacks Jerusalem. He takes everything, including the treasures of the temple of the LORD and those of the royal palace, as well as all the gold shields made under Solomon. To replace them, King Rehoboam orders bronze shields made, which he entrusts to the officers of the guard on duty at the entrance of the royal palace. Whenever the king visits the temple of the LORD, those on duty would carry the shields, and then return them to the guardroom. Rehoboam dies and he is buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Abijam succeeds him as king. Warring Divided Kingdom Then follow reigns of different kings from the houses of Solomon and Jeroboam. All the rulers from the house of Jeroboam displease the LORD, until finally, the descendants of the entire house of Jeroboam are killed, leaving not a single soul to Jeroboam and destroying him utterly, according to the warning which the LORD had pronounced through his servant, Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins Jeroboam. Some of rulers from the house of Solomon please the LORD while the others follow the sins of their fathers. There is constant warfare between the houses Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

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