1 Kings

(And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” And He [was] also very good in form, and she had borne him after Absalom.)

And the king took an oath and said, “[As] YHWH lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress,

just as I swore to you by YHWH, God of Israel, saying, surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place, even so I will surely do this day.”

And Bathsheba came in to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and he bowed low to her and sat down on his throne, and he set a throne for the mother of the king. And she sat at his right hand.

And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they feared the face of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God [was] within him, to administer justice.

And now, O YHWH, God of Israel, keep for Your servant David my father what You promised to him, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man before My face sitting on the throne of Israel—only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’

But will indeed God dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house that I have built?

When a man sins against his neighbor, and is forced in it to take an oath, and comes [and] takes an oath before the face of Your altar in this house,

then may You hear in the heavens, the fixed place of Your dwelling, and forgive and act and give to each man according to all his ways, of whom You know the heart. For You alone know the hearts of all the sons of man,

and they have turned [it] back to their heart in the land where they were carried captive there, and they turn back and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’

and they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and they pray to You toward their land that You gave to their fathers, the city that You have chosen, and the house that I have built for Your name,

and he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

“Blessed [be] YHWH, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has fallen of all His good promise that He promised by the hand of Moses His servant.

And it was, at the time of the old age of Solomon, that his wives stretched his heart after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to YHWH his God like the heart of David his father.

And YHWH became angry with Solomon, because his heart had stretched from YHWH, God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

And He had commanded to him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. And he did not keep what YHWH had commanded.

because that they have forsaken Me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways, to do right in My eyes, and My statutes and My ordinances, as David his father [did].

And the king answered the people harshly, and he rejected the counsel of the elders that they had counseled him.

And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made heavy your⁺ yoke, and I will add to your⁺ yoke. My father scourged you⁺ with whips, and I will scourge you⁺ with scorpions.”

And the king did not listen to the people, for the turning was from YHWH, that He might fulfill His word that YHWH had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

And all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, and the people returned the answer to the king, saying, “What portion have we in David? And [there is] no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now see to your own house, O David!” And Israel departed to their tents.

And he made offerings on the altar that he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month that he had devised in his own heart, and he ordained a feast for the sons of Israel and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

And he banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land, and he removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

for it was in Jezebel cutting off the prophets of YHWH, that Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men to a cave, and he sustained them with bread and water.)

And they took the bull that was given to them, and they prepared [it] and called on the name of the Baal from the morning and until the noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us.” And [there was] no voice, and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar that they had made.

And they called out in a loud voice, and they cut themselves according to their custom with the swords and with the spears, until the blood gushed out over them.

And he said, “I have been extremely zealous for YHWH, God of Hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant; they have torn down Your altars and have killed Your prophets with the sword, and I am left alone, and they are seeking my life, to take it.”

And he said, “I have been extremely zealous for YHWH, God of Hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant. They have torn down Your altars and have killed Your prophets with the sword. And I am left alone, and they are seeking my life to take it.”

And I have reserved in Israel seven thousand—all the knees that have not bowed to the Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

And Ahab went into his house sullen and angry because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him. For he had said, “I will not give to you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and he turned away his face and would not eat food.

And she wrote letters in the name of Ahab and sealed [them] with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who [were] dwelling in the city with Naboth.

And she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth with high honor among the people.

And seat two men, sons of worthlessness, before him to bear witness against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ And take him out and stone him, that he may die.”

And the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were dwellers of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it [was] written in the letters that she had sent to them.

They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth with high honor among the people.

And two men, the sons of worthlessness, came in and sat before him. And the men of worthlessness witnessed against him, against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed God and the king.” And they took him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died.

And they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned, and he is dead.”

And it came to pass when Ahab heard these words that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and he fasted and lay in the sackcloth, and he walked softly.

“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because that he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days; in the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”

And he said, ‘I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And He said, ‘Entice him and also you will prevail. Go and do so.’

And now, behold, YHWH has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and YHWH has declared disaster against you.”

And Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, YHWH has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Take heed, peoples, all of them.”

And the king of Israel went up, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, to Ramoth-gilead.

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and come into the battle, and you put on your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.

And the king of Aram had commanded the captains of the chariots who [were] unto him, thirty-two, saying, “You⁺ shall not fight with small or with great, except but with the king of Israel by himself.”

And it came to pass, the commanders of the chariots seeing Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It [is] surely the king of Israel.” And they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out.

And it came to pass, the captains of the chariots seeing that it [was] not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

And a man drew with the bow in his simplicity, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints and between of armor. And he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”