Study Desk

Please listen to their prayer while you are in your home in heaven and forgive them and help them. Only you know what people are really thinking, so only you can judge them fairly.

Do this so that your people will fear and respect you all the time that they live in this land you gave to our ancestors.

King Solomon offered 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. So the king and the people showed that they had dedicated the Temple to God.

So there at the Temple, King Solomon and all the people of Israel celebrated the festival. People came from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the border of Egypt in the south. This huge crowd of people enjoyed themselves for seven days.

So Solomon finished building the Lord 's Temple and the king's palace. Solomon did everything that he had planned to do in building a house for the Lord and for himself.

When I close the sky so that there is no rain, or command the locusts to destroy the land, or send sicknesses to my people

I have chosen this Temple, and I have made it a holy place. So I will be honored there forever. I will watch over it and think of it always.

So Solomon completed his work on the Lord 's Temple. Work began the day they laid the foundation and continued without stopping until the day the Temple was finished.

The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, so she came to test him with hard questions. She had a very large group with her. She had camels that carried spices, much gold, and valuable stones. She traveled to Jerusalem with a very large group of servants. There were many camels carrying spices, jewels, and a lot of gold. She met Solomon and asked him all the questions that she could think of.

She saw the food at the king's table. She saw his officials meeting together. She saw the servants in the palace and the good clothes they wore. She saw his parties and the sacrifices that he offered in the Lord 's Temple. She was so amazed, she could hardly breathe!

Praise the Lord your God! He was pleased to make you king of Israel. The Lord God loves Israel, so he made you the king. You follow the law and treat people fairly."

All of Solomon's cups and glasses were made of gold. And all the dishes in the building called the "Forest of Lebanon" were made from pure gold. Nothing in the palace was made from silver. There was so much gold that in Solomon's time people did not think silver was important!

Solomon had 4000 stalls to keep horses and chariots. He had 12,000 horse soldiers. Solomon built special cities for these chariots. So the chariots were kept in these cities. King Solomon also kept some of the chariots with him in Jerusalem.

King Solomon had so much silver that it was as common as rocks in Jerusalem. And he had so much cedar wood that it was as common as sycamore trees in the hill country.

Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days, and I will answer you." So the people left.

There were some older men who had helped Solomon make decisions when he was alive. So King Rehoboam asked these men what he should do. He said, "How do you think I should answer the people?"

Then the young men who grew up with him answered, "Those people came to you and said, ‘Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work easier.' So you should tell them, ‘My little finger is stronger than my father's whole body.

So the king did not do what the people wanted. The Lord caused this to happen. He did this in order to keep the promise he made to Jeroboam son of Nebat when he sent Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, to speak to him.

The Israelites saw that the new king refused to listen to them, so they said to him, "We are not part of David's family are we? We don't get any of Jesse's land, do we? So, people of Israel, let's go home and let David's son rule his own people!" So the Israelites went home.

So Israel rebelled against the family of David, and that is how things are even today.