Study Desk

Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today.

May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us.

And may these words that I have prayed in the presence of the Lord be before him constantly, day and night, so that the Lord our God may give justice to me and to his people Israel, according to each day's needs.

Then people all over the earth will know that the Lord alone is God and there is no other.

And may you be completely faithful to the Lord our God. May you always obey his decrees and commands, just as you are doing today."

Then Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters in the presence of the Lord our God. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. The celebration went on for fourteen days in all—seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven days for the Festival of Shelters.

"And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.'"

Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord 's eternal love for Israel, he has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness."

People from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him.

In Solomon's old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been.

Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord , the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada as Solomon's adversary. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah,

Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you!

For Solomon has abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my decrees and regulations as David his father did.

But God said to Shemaiah, the man of God,

At the Lord 's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, arriving there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to burn incense.

That same day the man of God gave a sign to prove his message. He said, "The Lord has promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be poured out on the ground."

When King Jeroboam heard the man of God speaking against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him and shouted, "Seize that man!" But instantly the king's hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn't pull it back.