Study Desk

"The temple I build will be great, because our God is greater than all gods.

Send me a lot of wood, because the temple I am going to build will be large and wonderful.

Then Hiram king of Tyre answered Solomon with this letter: "Solomon, because the Lord loves his people, he chose you to be their king."

The priests could not continue their work because of the cloud, because the Lord 's glory filled the Temple of God.

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.

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 people's hearts.

Now, rise, Lord God, and come to your resting place. Come with the Ark of the Agreement that shows your strength. Let your priests receive your salvation, Lord God, and may your holy people be happy because of your goodness.

The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord , because the Lord 's glory filled it.

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 and the fat of the fellowship offerings. He offered them in the courtyard, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon sent the people home, full of joy. They were happy because the Lord had been so good to David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

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

Solomon brought the daughter of the king of Egypt from the older part of Jerusalem to the palace he had built for her. Solomon said, "My wife must not live in King David's palace, because the places where the Ark of the Agreement has been are holy."

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

Praise the Lord your God who was pleased to make you king. He has put you on his throne to rule for the Lord your God, because your God loves the people of Israel and supports them forever. He has made you king over them to keep justice and to rule fairly."

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

‘The Lord says you must not go to war against your brothers. Every one of you should go home, because I made all these things happen.'" So they obeyed the Lord 's command and turned back and did not attack Jeroboam.

The Levites even left their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons refused to let them serve as priests to the Lord .

Rehoboam chose Abijah son of Maacah to be the leader of his own brothers, because he planned to make Abijah king.

During the fifth year Rehoboam was king, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, because Rehoboam and the people were unfaithful to the Lord .

Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem because they were afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, "This is what the Lord says: ‘You have left me, so now I will leave you to face Shishak alone.'"