Study Desk

But please listen to my prayer and my request, because I am your servant. Lord my God, hear this prayer your servant prays to you today.

then hear their prayers from your home in heaven. Forgive and treat each person as he should be treated because you know what is in a person's heart. Only you know what is in everyone's heart.

On that day King Solomon made holy the middle part of the courtyard which is in front of the Temple of the Lord . There he offered whole burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings. He offered them in the courtyard, because the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

On the following day Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king as they went, happy because of all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

People will answer, ‘This happened because they left the Lord their God. This was the God who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, but they decided to follow other gods. They worshiped and served those gods, so the Lord brought all this disaster on them.'"

At that time King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had helped with the buildings. Hiram had given Solomon all the cedar, pine, and gold he wanted.

Your men and officers are very lucky, because in always serving you, they are able to hear your wisdom.

All of Solomon's drinking cups, as well as the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, were made of pure gold. Nothing was made from silver, because silver was not valuable in Solomon's time.

because he had commanded Solomon not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not obey the Lord 's command.

So the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have chosen to break your agreement with me and have not obeyed my commands, I will tear your kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officers.

But I will not take it away while you are alive because of my love for your father David. I will tear it away from your son when he becomes king.

I will not tear away all the kingdom from him, but I will leave him one tribe to rule. I will do this because of David, my servant, and because of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen."

I will do this because Solomon has stopped following me and has worshiped the Sidonian god Ashtoreth, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Molech. Solomon has not obeyed me by doing what I said is right and obeying my laws and commands, as his father David did.

"‘But I will not take all the kingdom away from Solomon. I will let him rule all his life because of my servant David, whom I chose, who obeyed all my commands and laws.

I will punish David's children because of this, but I will not punish them forever.'"

King Rehoboam spoke cruel words to them, because he had rejected the advice the elders had given him.

‘The Lord says you must not go to war against your brothers, the Israelites. Every one of you should go home, because I made all these things happen.'" So they obeyed the Lord 's command and went home as the Lord had commanded.

This became a very great sin, because the people traveled as far as Dan to worship the calf there.

and all Israel will be sad for him and bury him. He is the only one of Jeroboam's family who will be buried, because he is the only one in the king's family who pleased the Lord , the God of Israel.

Then the Lord will punish Israel, which will be like reeds swaying in the water. The Lord will pull up Israel from this good land, the land he gave their ancestors. He will scatter Israel beyond the Euphrates River, because he is angry with the people. They made the Lord angry when they set up idols to worship Asherah.