2 Chronicles 11 Cross References - NHEB

¹ When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. ² But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ 'Thus says the LORD, "You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers. Return every man to his house; for this thing is of me."'" So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam. ⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, and Soco, and Adullam, ⁸ and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, ⁹ and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, ¹⁰ and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities. ¹¹ He fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in every city, and made them exceeding strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him. ¹³ The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border. ¹⁴ For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office to the LORD; ¹⁵ and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶ After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon. ¹⁸ Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; ¹⁹ and she bore him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his secondary wives: (for he took eighteen wives, and sixty secondary wives, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.) ²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, the prince among his brothers; for he intended to make him king. ²³ He dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance. He sought for them many wives.

²¹ When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ 'Thus says the LORD, "You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers, the children of Israel. Everyone return to his house; for this thing is of me."'" So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned and went their way, according to the word of the LORD.

¹⁰ The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.

¹⁶ There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

³⁰ There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD. ³¹ The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with the LORD.

¹ This is the blessing, with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

²⁷ A man of God came to Eli, and said, "Thus says the LORD, I plainly revealed myself to the house of your father, when they were slaves in Egypt to the house of Pharaoh.

¹⁴ He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

⁵ And Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, 'You have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.'" ⁶ Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, "The LORD is righteous." ⁷ When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them; but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

¹⁵ Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, aren't they written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the way of genealogies? There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed each one with his own individual blessing.

⁴ Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

³⁴ To this day they do what they did before: they do not fear the LORD, neither do they follow their statutes, or their ordinances, or the law or the commandment which the LORD commanded the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel;

⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;

⁴ I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel: ⁵ of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, ⁶ of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, ⁷ of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, ⁸ of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

⁸ Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are relatives.

²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God turned it into good in order to bring about this present result, to save the lives of many people.

²⁶ Then Abner called to Joab, and said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long shall it be then, before you ask the people to stop pursuing their brothers?"

²⁹ And it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the way and caused him to turn aside out of the way. Now he had dressed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the countryside. ³⁰ And Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. ³¹ He said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Look, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you ³² (but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel); ³³ because he has forsaken me, and has worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon. And he has not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my ordinances, as David his father did. ³⁴ "'However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes; ³⁵ but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it to you, even ten tribes. ³⁶ To his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. ³⁷ I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.

³⁶ A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, "Every man to his city, and every man to his country."

¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; for it was brought about of God, that the LORD might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, "What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, Israel. Now see to your own house, David." So all Israel departed to their tents.

⁷ A man of God came to him, saying, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you; for the LORD is not with Israel, with all the people of Ephraim. ⁸ But if you will go, take action, be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow." ⁹ Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?" The man of God answered, "The LORD is able to give you much more than this." ¹⁰ Then Amaziah separated them, the army that had come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: therefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger.

⁸ The children of Israel carried away captive of their brothers two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. ⁹ But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, "Look, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has reached up to heaven. ¹⁰ Now you purpose to keep under the people of Judah and Jerusalem for bondservants and bondmaids for yourselves. Aren't there even with you trespasses of your own against the LORD your God? ¹¹ Now hear me therefore, and send back the captives, that you have taken captive from your brothers; for the fierce wrath of the LORD is on you." ¹² Then some of the heads of the people of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war, ¹³ and said to them, "You shall not bring in the captives here: for you purpose that which will bring on us a trespass against the LORD, to add to our sins and to our trespass; for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel." ¹⁴ So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the leaders and all the assembly. ¹⁵ The men who have been mentioned by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them, gave them sandals, and gave them something to eat and to drink, anointed them, carried all the feeble of them on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

¹¹ The counsel of the LORD stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

⁴ They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I did not approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.

²⁶ "The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, 'Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?'

⁵ I say this to move you to shame. Is there not even one wise person among you who would be able to decide between a brother and his brother? ⁶ But brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers. ⁷ Actually, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits among yourselves. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸ No, but you yourselves do wrong, and cheat, and that against your brothers.

¹ Let brotherly love continue.

⁸ Finally, be all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, humble,

¹¹ For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; ¹² unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous. ¹³ Therefore do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

² that the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. ³ Solomon went to Hamath Zobah, and prevailed against it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities, which he built in Hamath. ⁵ Also he built Upper Beth Horon, and Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars; ⁶ and Baalath, and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

²³ He dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance. He sought for them many wives.

⁶ He built fortified cities in Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because the LORD had given him rest. ⁷ For he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities, and make walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is still ours. Since we have sought the LORD our God, he has sought us and he has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.

⁶ Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

¹² Jehoshaphat grew great exceedingly; and he built in Judah fortresses and cities of store.

⁶ He went forth and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

⁴ Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers.

⁸ He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. ⁹ You saw the breaches of the City of David, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. ¹⁰ You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. ¹¹ You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who purposed it long ago.

¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

⁸ He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

¹² Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. And in the days of Saul the man was old and advanced in years.

² Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched there a wise woman, and said to her, "Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead.

³² Their villages were Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Token, and Ashan, five cities;

²⁰ They rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, so you will be established. Believe his prophets, and you will prosper."

⁵ Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their lord.

²⁷ After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, over against the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.

¹ "Flee for safety, you people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction.

¹ The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

⁵ And they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written through the prophet, ⁶ 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.'"

¹⁵ the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

³⁵ Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah,

⁵⁸ Halhul, Beth Zur, and Gedor,

¹ David therefore departed there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.

¹³ And three of the Thirty chief men went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam; and the troop of the Philistines was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁵ I will yet bring to you, inhabitant of Mareshah. He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam.

²⁴ Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth,

⁴⁴ and Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages.

¹⁴ David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but the LORD did not deliver him into his hand.

¹⁹ Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, "Doesnʼt David hide himself with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

¹ After this it happened, that David struck the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines.

¹ [For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A contemplation by David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, "Isn't David hiding himself among us?"] Save me, God, by your name. Vindicate me in your might.

⁵ Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their armies, and camped against Gibeon, and made war against it.

¹¹ And it happened, as they fled from before the children of Israel while they were at the descent of Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down stones from the sky on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than who the children of Israel killed with the sword.

³⁹ Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon,

⁹ After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was before Lachish, and all his power with him), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,

² Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

²² They went up by the Negev, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

¹⁴ Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day; because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.

³³ In the lowland, Eshtaol, and Zorah, and Ashnah,

⁴¹ And the border of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir Shemesh, ⁴² and Shaalbin, and Aijalon, and Jithlah,

⁷ They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

¹¹ The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

¹⁹ These were those who waited on the king, besides those whom the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

¹⁹ Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her ornamented robe that she wore. And she put her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.

²² Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar.

¹⁴ Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the army, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵ He made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong.

⁵ He took courage, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised towers upon it, and the other wall outside, and strengthened Millo in the City of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance.

³⁰ "'All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD's. It is holy to the LORD. ³¹ If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it. ³² All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to the LORD. ³³ He shall not search whether it is good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he changes it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.'" ³⁴ These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

²¹ "To the descendants of Levi, look, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tent of Meeting. ²² Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. ²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴ For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance: therefore I have said to them, 'Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.'" ²⁵ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ "Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, 'When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for the LORD, a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷ Your wave offering shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. ²⁸ Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to the LORD of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give the LORD's wave offering to Aaron the priest.

² "Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and you shall give suburbs for the cities around them to the Levites. ³ The cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their livestock, and for their substance, and for all their animals. ⁴ "The suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand seven hundred twenty-two feet six inches around it. ⁵ You shall measure outside of the city for the east side three thousand four hundred forty-five feet, and for the south side three thousand four hundred forty-five feet, and for the west side three thousand four hundred forty-five feet, and for the north side three thousand four hundred forty-five feet, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.

²⁰ The families of the descendants of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the descendants of Kohath, had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ They gave them Shechem with its suburbs in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with its suburbs, ²² Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth Horon with its suburbs; four cities. ²³ Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs, ²⁴ Aijalon with its suburbs, Gath Rimmon with its suburbs; four cities. ²⁵ Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Beth Shean with its suburbs; two cities. ²⁶ All the cities of the families of the rest of the descendants of Kohath were ten with their suburbs. ²⁷ They gave to the descendants of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be Eshterah with its suburbs; two cities. ²⁸ Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its suburbs, En Gannim with its suburbs; four cities. ³⁰ Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its suburbs, Abdon with its suburbs, ³¹ Helkath with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs; four cities. ³² Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammothdor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; three cities. ³³ All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs. ³⁴ To the families of the descendants of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, Kartah with its suburbs, ³⁵ Rimmon with its suburbs, and Nahalal with its suburbs; four cities. ³⁶ And across the Jordan opposite Jericho, from the tribe of Reuben: a city of refuge for the manslayer, Bezer in the wilderness, on the plateau, with its suburbs, Jahaz with its suburbs, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; four cities. ³⁸ Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs, ³⁹ Heshbon with its suburbs, Jazer with its suburbs; four cities in all. ⁴⁰ All these were the cities of the descendants of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites. Their lot was twelve cities. ⁴¹ All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs. ⁴² Each of these cities included their suburbs around them. It was this way with all these cities.

²⁸ Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and see your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt." ²⁹ He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ Then this thing became a sin, for the people went before the one at Bethel and before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. ³² Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; he did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. ³³ He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense.

³³ After this thing Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among all the people. He consecrated anyone who wanted to be a priest at the high places.

⁶⁶ Some of the families of the descendants of Kohath, of the Levites, even the rest of the descendants of Kohath, had cities of their borders out of the tribe of Ephraim. ⁶⁷ They gave to them the cities of refuge, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its suburbs; Gezer also with its suburbs, ⁶⁸ and Jokmeam with its suburbs, and Beth Horon with its suburbs, ⁶⁹ and Aijalon with its suburbs, and Gath Rimmon with its suburbs; ⁷⁰ and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Ibleam with its suburbs, for the rest of the family of the descendants of Kohath. ⁷¹ To the descendants of Gershom were given, out of the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, and Ashtaroth with its suburbs; ⁷² and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kedesh with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs, ⁷³ and Ramoth with its suburbs, and Anem with its suburbs; ⁷⁴ and out of the tribe of Asher, Mashal with its suburbs, and Abdon with its suburbs, ⁷⁵ and Hukok with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs; ⁷⁶ and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, and Hammon with its suburbs, and Kiriathaim with its suburbs. ⁷⁷ To the rest of the Levites, the descendants of Merari, were given, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, Rimmon with its suburbs, and Tabor with its suburbs, and Nahalal with its suburbs. ⁷⁸ And beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, were given them, out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness with its suburbs, and Jahzah with its suburbs, ⁷⁹ and Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; ⁸⁰ and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, and Mahanaim with its suburbs, ⁸¹ and Heshbon with its suburbs, and Jazer with its suburbs.

⁹ Haven't you driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves after the ways of the peoples of other lands? so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, the same may be a priest of those who are no gods.

⁴ He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt." ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." ⁶ They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. ⁷ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Go down at once, for your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"

³¹ Moses returned to the LORD, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold.

¹⁷ They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they did not know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers did not dread.

²⁸ Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and see your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt."

³¹ And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

⁹ but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made you other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back:

¹⁹ They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image. ²⁰ Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.

⁵ Let Samaria throw out his calf idol. My anger burns against them. How long will it be until they are capable of purity? ⁶ For this is even from Israel. The workman made it, and it is no God; indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.

² Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, 'They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.'

²⁰ But I say that the things which pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God, and I do not desire that you would have fellowship with demons. ²¹ You cannot both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot both partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.

¹ But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,

¹⁴ for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of the great day of the God of hosts.

²¹ Whoever did not regard the word of the LORD left his servants and his livestock in the field.

⁵ But to the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation you shall seek, and there you shall come; ⁶ and there you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock:

¹¹ then it shall happen that to the place which the LORD your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to your God.

¹³ Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; ¹⁴ but in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

⁴⁶ He said to them, "Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

¹⁹ However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD's tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

³ Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you do return to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to the LORD, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." ⁴ Then the children of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.

²⁹ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come before him. Worship the LORD in holy array.

¹ Then David said, "This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel."

¹⁹ Now set your heart and your soul to seek after the LORD your God. Arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD."

⁹ He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

¹¹ Nevertheless some from Asher and from Manasseh and from Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD pardon everyone ¹⁹ who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even if they aren't clean according to the purification of the sanctuary."

¹⁴ If he set his heart on himself, If he gathered to himself his spirit and his breath,

¹⁰ Do not trust in oppression. Do not become vain in robbery. If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage. ⁶ Passing through the Valley of Baca, he makes it into a spring. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings. ⁷ They go from strength to strength. Everyone of them appears before God in Zion.

¹ [A Song. A Psalm by David.] My heart is steadfast, God. I will sing and I will make music with my soul.

¹⁴ Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored until the going down of the sun to rescue him.

⁸ They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

⁵ Now therefore this is what the LORD of hosts says: Consider your ways.

²³ who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain true to the Lord.

¹ Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly. ² Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the ancestral houses. ³ So Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the Tent of Meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness. ⁴ But David had brought the ark of God up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. ⁵ Moreover the bronze altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the assembly were seeking counsel there. ⁶ Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the Tent of Meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it. ⁷ In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, "Ask what I shall give you." ⁸ Solomon said to God, "You have shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, LORD God, let your promise to David my father be established; for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. ¹⁰ Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this your people, that is so great?" ¹¹ God said to Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of those who hate you, neither yet have asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king: ¹² wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you; neither shall there any after you have the like."

¹⁷ As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances; ¹⁸ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.' ¹⁹ But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

¹³ even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents. ¹⁴ He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded. ¹⁵ They did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures. ¹⁶ Now all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.

¹ It happened, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.

⁴ "Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.

²⁰ And what was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

⁶ It happened, when they had come, that he looked at Eliab, and said, "Surely the LORD's anointed is before him."

¹³ The three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle. And the names of his sons who went to the battle were Eliab, the firstborn, and Abinadab, the second, and Shimeah, the third.

²⁸ Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, "Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle."

¹³ and Jesse became the father of his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimeah the third,

¹⁸ of Judah, Elihu, one of the brothers of David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael:

¹ Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat began Abijam to reign over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his secondary wives: (for he took eighteen wives, and sixty secondary wives, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)

¹⁶ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers, and he was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son reigned in his place.

² He reigned three years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

⁷ and Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa;

¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

³⁰ Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body; for he had many wives.

² Now sons were born to David in Hebron. And his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; ³ and his second, Daluiah, of Abigail of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; ⁴ and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah, of Abital; ⁵ and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

¹³ David took more secondary wives and wives out of Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron; and there were born to David more sons and daughters.

³ He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred secondary wives; and his wives turned away his heart.

¹ Now these were the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second, Daluiah, of Abigail of Carmel; ² the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; ³ the fifth, Shephatiah of Abital; the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife: ⁴ six were born to him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months. In Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years; ⁵ and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam; ⁶ and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Eliphelet, ⁷ and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, ⁸ and Elishama, and Baaliada, and Eliphelet, nine. ⁹ All these were the sons of David, besides the sons of the secondary wives; and Tamar was their sister.

⁸ There are sixty queens, eighty secondary wives, and virgins without number. ⁹ My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother's only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; the queens and the secondary wives, and they praised her.

¹⁵ If a man has two wives, the one loved, and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved; and if the firstborn son is hers who was unloved; ¹⁶ then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn: ¹⁷ but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

¹ The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn; but, because he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; and not to be regarded in the genealogy as the firstborn. ² For Judah prevailed above his brothers, and a leader descended from him; but the birthright was Joseph's:)

¹ David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

⁶ and to the sons of Abraham's secondary wives, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them away from Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward, to the east country.

⁵ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶ His father had never scolded him at any time by saying, "Why have you done so?" And he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom.

⁸ But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ He said to them, "What counsel do you give, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, 'Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter?'" ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter on us;' thus you shall say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. ¹¹ Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.'" ¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, "Come to me again the third day." ¹³ The king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, ¹⁴ and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; for it was brought about of God, that the LORD might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

³ Their father gave them great gifts, of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.

⁸ "His lord commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness, for the people of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the people of light.