Study Desk

David then said to the people, "Now it's your turn to praise the Lord , the God your ancestors worshiped!" So everyone praised the Lord , and they bowed down to honor him and David their king.

So Solomon became king after David his father. Solomon was successful, and everyone in Israel obeyed him.

I am supposed to rule these people, but there are as many of them as there are specks of dust on the ground. So keep the promise you made to my father

So I will make you wise and intelligent. But I will also make you richer and more famous than any king before or after you.

I know that you have workers who are experts at cutting lumber in Lebanon. So would you please send me some cedar, pine, and juniper logs? My workers will be there to help them,

There were so many bronze furnishings that no one ever knew how much bronze it took to make them.

The poles were so long that they could be seen from just outside the most holy place, but not from anywhere else. And they stayed there from then on.

The Lord 's glory was in that cloud, and the light from it was so bright that the priests could not stay inside to do their work.

I am your servant, and the people of Israel belong to you, and so whenever any of us look toward this temple and pray, answer from your home in heaven and forgive our sins.

listen from your home in heaven and forgive them. The people of Israel are your servants, so teach them to live right. And send rain on the land you promised them forever.

You know what is in everyone's heart. So from your home in heaven answer their prayers, according to what they do and what is in their hearts.

Always remember the love you had for your servant David, so that you will not reject your chosen kings.

On that same day, Solomon dedicated the courtyard in front of the temple and got it ready to be used for worship. The bronze altar he had made was too small, so he used the courtyard to offer sacrifices to please the Lord and grain sacrifices, and also to send up in smoke the fat from the other offerings.

I will pull you out of this land I gave you. I will desert this temple where I said I would be worshiped, so that people everywhere will think it is only a joke and will make fun of it.

Solomon's wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, moved from the part of Jerusalem called David's City to her new palace that Solomon had built. The sacred chest had been kept in David's City, which made his palace sacred, and so Solomon's wife could no longer live there.

The Queen of Sheba heard how famous Solomon was, so she went to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She took along several of her officials, and she loaded her camels with gifts of spices, jewels, and gold. When she arrived, she and Solomon talked about everything she could think of.

But I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes! And there's so much I didn't hear about. You are greater than I was told.

I praise the Lord your God. He is pleased with you and has made you king of Israel. God loves the people of this country and will never desert them, so he has given them a king who will rule fairly and honestly.

Rehoboam replied, "Come back in three days for my answer." So the people left.

After Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he decided to attack Israel and regain control of the whole country. So he called together one hundred eighty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.