From the Greek Septuagint text as was used by First Century Christians

Chapter 1

¹ Now, King David had grown very old, and even when they wrapped him in [heavy] clothes he couldn’t get warm. ² So his servants said, ‘Have them search for a young virgin girl for the king, to wait on him, treat him well, and lie with him… that will keep him warm.’

³ So they searched for a pretty young woman throughout the borders of Israel; and they found AbiSag the Somanite, and they brought her to the king. ⁴ Now, the young woman was extremely beautiful, and she treated the king very well and served him, but he never [had sex] with her.

⁵ Well, AdoniJah (the son of [David’s wife] AgGith) tried to elevate himself, saying, ‘I will be the king.’ And he prepared himself [by collecting] chariots and horses, and having fifty men run ahead of him. ⁶ And [David] never discouraged him or asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’

Now, AdoniJah was a very handsome man (his mother had given birth to him after AbSalom). ⁷ Then he met with JoAb (the son of ZeruJah ) and AbiAthar the Priest, and they became his supporters. ⁸ However, neither the Priest Sadoc, nor BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda), nor the Prophet Nathan, nor Semei, nor Resi, nor any of David’s mighty men, supported AdoniJah.

⁹ Then AdoniJah went to the Rock of ZoeLethi (near RogEl) to sacrifice sheep, calves, and lambs. And he called all his brothers, the king’s servants, and all the adult men of Judah; ¹⁰ but he didn’t invite the Prophet Nathan, BanaYas, any of the mighty men, or his brother Solomon.

¹¹ So, Nathan spoke to BathSheba (Solomon’s mother) and asked, ‘Have you heard that AgGith’s son AdoniJah has started ruling, but our lord David doesn’t know about it yet? ¹² So, I beg you to allow me to give you some council that will save your life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Hurry and go to King David, then say to him, O my lord the king; Didn’t you swear to me (your handmaid) that my son Solomon would reign after you and sit on your throne? And if so, then why is AdoniJah reigning?

¹⁴ ‘Then, while you’re still speaking there with the king, I’ll come in after you and confirm what you’re saying.’

¹⁵ So, BathSheba went before the king in his chamber.

Now, the king was very old, and AbiSag (the Somanite) was there serving him. ¹⁶ Then BathSheba bowed low before the king; and the king asked, ‘What do you want?’

¹⁷ And she replied, ‘My lord, didn’t you swear to your handmaid by Jehovah your God, saying, Your son Solomon will reign after me and sit on my throne? ¹⁸ But look! AdoniJah has started to rule, and you, my lord the king, don’t even know about it! ¹⁹ Why, he has already sacrificed many calves, lambs, and sheep, and he has invited all of the king’s sons, AbiAthar the Priest, and JoAb the commander-in-chief of your army. However, he didn’t invite your servant Solomon. ²⁰ So now, my lord the king, all Israel is watching and waiting for you to tell them who will sit on your throne after you. ²¹ And as it presently stands, after my lord the king goes to sleep with his fathers, my son Solomon and I will be [in great jeopardy].’

²² And {Look!}, while she was still talking to the king, the Prophet Nathan arrived, which was reported to the king with the words, ²³ ‘Look, the Prophet Nathan is here.’

So, he came into the king’s presence and bowed to him with his face to the ground. ²⁴ And Nathan said, ‘My lord; O king; Did you say that AdoniJah will reign after you and sit on your throne? ²⁵ For, today he has gone to sacrifice many calves, lambs, and sheep, and he has invited all your sons, the chiefs of the army, and AbiAthar the priest. Why, look! They’re eating and drinking before him now, and saying, Long live King AdoniJah! ²⁶ But he didn’t invite me (your servant), or the Priest Sadoc, or BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda), or your servant Solomon. ²⁷ Has this matter been authorized by my lord the king, and have you failed to tell your servant who will succeed you on the throne?’

²⁸ Then King David said, ‘Call BathSheba back in.’

So, she came in and stood before the king. ²⁹ Then the king swore [an oath to her] saying, ‘As Jehovah lives (who saved my life from all danger), ³⁰ and as I swore to you by Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, Your son Solomon will reign after me and sit on my throne after me, I’m saying the same thing today.’

³¹ Then BathSheba bowed low with her face to the ground, and said, ‘May my lord King David live through the ages.’

³² Next, King David said, ‘Call Sadoc the Priest, Nathan the Prophet, and BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) to me.’

So, they came in and stood before the king, ³³ and the king said to them: ‘Take my servants with you, and mount my son Solomon on my personal mule, then take him to Gion. ³⁴ There Sadoc the Priest and Nathan the Prophet should anoint him to be the king over Israel. Then blow the trumpets and shout, May King Solomon live! ³⁵ For, he will sit on my throne and be the ruler in place of me… I’m giving the order that he will now be the leader over Israel and Judah!’

³⁶ And BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) answered the king and said, ‘May it be! May Jehovah, the God of my lord the king, make it so. ³⁷ And as Jehovah was with my lord the king, let him be with Solomon; and may He raise his throne even higher than the throne of my lord King David.’

³⁸ So, Sadoc the Priest, Nathan the Prophet, BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda), and the Cherethites and Phelethites went and mounted Solomon on King David’s mule, and led him away to Gion. ³⁹ Then Sadoc took the horn of oil from the Sacred Tent, anointed Solomon with it, and blew the trumpets, as all the people started shouting, ‘[Long] live King Solomon!’ ⁴⁰ And so many people came to him dancing and singing in their joy, that the ground shook with the sound of their voices.

⁴¹ Well, when AdoniJah and all his guests heard the commotion, they stopped eating. And when JoAb heard the trumpets blowing, he asked, ‘Why is the whole city in such an uproar?’

⁴² Then, while he was still speaking {Look!}, JoNathan (the son of AbiAthar the Priest) came in. And AdoniJah said, ‘Come on in! Since you’re such a mighty man, you must be bringing good news!’

⁴³ And JoNathan replied, ‘It’s true! For, our lord King David has made Solomon the king! ⁴⁴ He sent Sadoc the Priest, Nathan the Prophet, BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda), and the Cherethites and Phelethites, and they mounted him on the king’s mule, ⁴⁵ then they anointed him in Gion. So, the sounds that you’re hearing from the city are the sounds of rejoicing! ⁴⁶ For, Solomon is now seated on the throne of the kingdom, ⁴⁷ and the king’s servants are going in to praise our lord King David, saying, May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and his throne greater than your throne.

‘And now the king is bowing before [God] from his bed. ⁴⁸ For the king is saying: May Jehovah the God of Israel be praised, because today He has appointed one of my seed to sit on my throne while my eyes can still see it!’

⁴⁹ Well, all the guests of AdoniJah were shocked, and then they just left.

⁵⁰ Now, AdoniJah was afraid because of Solomon, so he got up and went outside, and then he grabbed hold of the horns on the altar. ⁵¹ And when it was reported to Solomon that AdoniJah was afraid of him and that he was holding the horns of the altar and saying, ‘Let Solomon swear to me today that he won’t kill his servant with his sword,’ ⁵² Solomon said, ‘If he’s a valiant man, not a single hair will fall to the ground; but if he’s evil, he will die.’ ⁵³ So, King Solomon sent and had him brought back from the altar. Then [AdoniJah] bowed low before King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, ‘Go back home.’

Chapter 2

¹ Well, the time for David’s death drew near, and he spoke to his son Solomon and said, ‘I’m going the way of all the earth. ² But you be strong and show that you’re a man. ³ Follow the instructions of Jehovah your God, walk in His ways, and follow the Commandments, rules, and decisions that are written about in the Law of Moses, so you’ll understand what you should do in all the things that I’ve told you. ⁴ Then Jehovah will prove the thing that He promised: If your children will pay attention to the way that they should walk before Me in truth and with all their hearts, there will never fail to be a man who sits on the throne of Israel.

⁵ ‘Now, you know all the things that JoAb (the son of ZeruJah) did to me and to the two generals of the army of Israel… to AbNer (the son of Ner), and to Amasa (the son of JeTher)… he murdered them and shed their blood as in war, although we were at peace… he wrapped his waist and the sandals on his feet in innocent blood. ⁶ So, deal with him as your wisdom directs, and don’t allow him to take his grey hair to his grave in peace.

⁷ ‘But I want you to deal kindly with the sons of BarZelli the Gileadite… they should eat at your table, because they came to my aid when I had to run from your brother AbSalom.

⁸ ‘And {Look!} there is Semei (the son of Gera – a BenJaminite of BaUrim) who is still among us. Yet, he brought a great curse on me when he came down to the Jordan to meet me as I was returning to Jerusalem. Then I swore to him by Jehovah that I wouldn’t use the sword to put him to death. ⁹ However, he isn’t free of guilt. Now, you’re a wise man, and you know what you must do to him… you must take his grey hair to the grave covered in blood.’

¹⁰ So, David went to sleep with his ancestors, and he was buried in the city of David. ¹¹ David had reigned over Israel for forty years… seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹² So, Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom became very great.

¹³ Then AdoniJah (the son of AgGith) went to see BathSheba (the mother of Solomon) and bowed before her. And she asked: ‘Have you come in peace?’

And he replied, ‘Yes, in peace. ¹⁴ I have some business with you.’

And she said, ‘Then speak.’

¹⁵ And he said, ‘You know that the kingdom was mine, because all Israel turned to me as their king. But the kingdom was taken from me and it became my brother’s, because it was given to him by Jehovah. ¹⁶ Now, I just want to ask one thing of you… and don’t ignore me.’

Then BathSheba said, ‘Keep talking.’

¹⁷ And he said to her, ‘I beg you to speak to King Solomon, because he won’t ignore you. Ask him to give me AbiSag the Somanite as a wife.’

¹⁸ And BathSheba said, ‘Well, I’ll speak to the king for you.’

¹⁹ So, BathSheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about AdoniJah. And the king rose to meet her, kissed her, then sat down on his throne, and he had a throne placed there for the mother of the king, so she sat down at his right hand. ²⁰ And she said to him, ‘I would like to make one little request… and please don’t ignore me.’

And the king said, ‘Ask, my mother, and I won’t ignore you.’

²¹ And she said, ‘Please, give AbiSag the Somanite to your brother AdoniJah as his wife.’

²² Well, King Solomon asked: ‘Why are you asking me to give AbiSag to AdoniJah? You could ask me to give him the kingdom also, because he’s my elder brother… and his friends are the Priest AbiAthar and my commander-in-chief, JoAb (the son of ZeruJah ).’

²³ And then King Solomon swore an oath by Jehovah. He said, ‘May God curse me and add to it if AdoniJah hasn’t spoken these words against his own life. ²⁴ And now, as Jehovah lives – He who established me, set me on the throne of my father David, and made me a house, as Jehovah said – today AdoniJah will be put to death!’

²⁵ So King Solomon sent out BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) to kill him, and AdoniJah died that day.

²⁶ Then the king said to AbiAthar the Priest, ‘Now, go back to your farm in AnathOth quickly, because you also deserve death today. However, I’m not going to kill you, because you carried Jehovah’s Chest of the Sacred Agreement before my father, and because you also shared in all the sufferings of my father.’

²⁷ So, Solomon removed AbiAthar as the Priest of Jehovah, to fulfill the words that Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Heli in Salem.

²⁸ Well, the news of this reached JoAb (the son of ZeruJah), and because he had supported AdoniJah (not Solomon), he ran to the Tent of Jehovah and grabbed hold of the horns on the altar. ²⁹ And when Solomon was told, ‘JoAb has fled to the Tent of Jehovah, and look, he’s hanging onto the horns of the altar,’ he sent [a message] to JoAb, asking, ‘What’s wrong with you? Why have you fled to the altar?’

And JoAb replied, ‘Because I was afraid of you, I fled to Jehovah for refuge.’

Then Solomon sent BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda), telling him, ‘Go and kill him, and then bury him.’

³⁰ Well, when BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) reached JoAb at the Tent of Jehovah, he said to him, ‘The king commands you to come out of there!’

And JoAb said, ‘I’m not coming out, for I’d rather die here!’

And BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) returned to the king and told him what JoAb said. ³¹ So the king told him: ‘Then go and do what he told you to do… kill him, then bury him! That way, you’ll remove the blood that he shed for no reason from me and from the house of my father. ³² For, Jehovah has brought the blood of his unrighteousness upon his own head, because he attacked two men who were more righteous and better than himself, killing them with his sword. Yet, my father David was unaware that he would kill AbNer (the son of Ner), the commander-in-chief of Israel, and AmesSa (the son of Jether), the commander-in-chief of Judah. ³³ And now their blood is on his head and on the head of his seed through the ages. But upon David, his seed, his house, and his throne, may there be peace from Jehovah through the ages.

³⁴ So BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) went back and killed him, and then he buried him in his house in the desert.

³⁵ Thereafter, the king appointed BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) to be the commander-in-chief of his army, and his kingship became firm in Jerusalem. And as for Sadoc the Priest; the king appointed him the High Priest in place of AbiAthar.

So, Solomon (the son of David) reigned over Israel and Judah from Jerusalem, and Jehovah gave Solomon as much wisdom, understanding, and greatness of heart as there is sand at the seashore. For, the wisdom of Solomon was greater than that of all the ancient peoples, and it was far greater than the wise men of Egypt.

³⁶ Then the king called Semei and said to him: ‘You may build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there… but don’t leave it, ³⁷ because I want you to know that on the day you cross the Valley of Cedars (Kidron), you’re going to die, and your blood will be on your own head.’

³⁸ And Semei said to the king: ‘What you’ve said is good, O my lord the king, and that’s what your servant will do.’ Then the king made him swear an oath to this.

So, Semei lived in Jerusalem for three years. ³⁹ But after the three years, two of Semei’s slaves ran away (to Anchus, the son of MaAcha, the king of Geth). And when Semei was told that his slaves were in Geth, ⁴⁰ he saddled his burros and went to Anchus in Geth to bring his slaves back. ⁴¹ But when Solomon was told that Semei had left Jerusalem and gone to Geth to bring back his slaves, ⁴² the king sent for Semei and said to him, ‘Didn’t you swear by Jehovah, and didn’t I warn you that if you left Jerusalem, whether to the right or the left, that you will surely die? ⁴³ So, why haven’t you kept your oath to Jehovah and followed the instructions that I gave you?’

⁴⁴ Then the king told Semei, ‘In your heart you know of all the bad things you’ve done, and of the bad things that you did to my father David. So now, Jehovah is bringing your badness down upon your own head… ⁴⁵ and King Solomon will be blest, and the throne of David will be established before Jehovah through the ages.’

⁴⁶ Then Solomon commanded BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) to take him out and kill him.

Chapter 3

¹ Well, under Solomon the kingdom was united.

Then Solomon contracted a marriage with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He took the daughter of Pharaoh and brought her to the city of David. However, before that, he completed the building of his palace, the Temple of Jehovah, and the wall around Jerusalem.

² Now, before the Temple was built, the people were burning incense [to Jehovah] in the high places. ³ And since Solomon loved Jehovah (and following the orders of his father David), he also offered his sacrifices and burnt incense there.

⁴ Well, Solomon got up and went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, because that was the highest place. And he sacrificed a thousand whole burnt offerings upon the altar there; ⁵ and then Jehovah appeared to Solomon while he was sleeping that night. And Jehovah said, ‘Solomon; Ask for anything you might wish for yourself.’

⁶ And Solomon said, ‘You’ve shown great mercy to your servant David, my father, and he walked with You in truth, justice, and a pure heart. Then You guarded him and showed him great mercy by allowing his son to sit on his throne, which has happened today. ⁷ And now, O Jehovah my God; You have appointed Your servant in place of my father David, yet I’m just a boy who doesn’t even know when to enter and when to leave. ⁸ But, Your servant [now rules] in the midst of this mighty [nation] whom You have chosen, and which is so large it can’t be counted. ⁹ So, give your servant a heart to listen and to make [wise] decisions for Your people in justice, and to recognize the difference between what is good and what is bad. For, who can bear the weight of such judgment?

¹⁰ And this thing that Solomon asked for was pleasing to Jehovah, ¹¹ so He replied: ‘Because you have asked this thing from Me, and you didn’t ask for a long life, or for wealth, or for the lives of your enemies – and all you asked for yourself is the understanding to judge righteously – ¹² {Look!} I have done what you asked. {Look!} I’m giving you an intelligent and wise heart… there has never been anyone before you, nor will there ever be anyone who will rise up after you that will be like you. ¹³ And then, even what you didn’t ask for I’ve given you… including wealth and glory, for there has never been a king like you. ¹⁴ And if you do things My way, and obey My Commandments and instructions, as did your father David, then I will also grant you a long life.’

¹⁵ Well, when Solomon woke up, he remembered the dream. Then he got up and returned to Jerusalem, and there he went and stood before the Altar, which was in front of the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah in Zion. Then he sacrificed whole burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he held a great banquet for himself and for all his servants.

¹⁶ Thereafter, two women who were prostitutes came and stood before the king for a [judgment]. ¹⁷ And one of the women said, ‘Hear me, my lord! This woman and I both live in the same house, and we both gave birth to [babies] there. ¹⁸ For, it was three days after I gave birth that this woman also gave birth in the same place, and no one else was around… there was just the two of us in the house. ¹⁹ Well, this woman’s son died during the night when she rolled over on him, ²⁰ so she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my arms, and put him to her breast. Then she took her son that died and laid him at my breast. ²¹ And when I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I saw the one that had died; but I studied him and realized that this wasn’t my son that I had given birth to.’

²² Well, the other woman shouted, ‘That isn’t true! My son is the one that’s living, and yours is the son that’s dead.’

²³ Then the king said to them: ‘You’re saying that the living son is yours, and the dead one is hers. And she says that’s not true; hers is the living son and yours is the one that’s dead.’ ²⁴ So the king said: ‘Bring me a sword!’ And they brought him a sword. ²⁵ Then he said: ‘Cut this living, nursing child in half, and give half to this one, and the other half to that one!’

²⁶ Well, the real mother of the living son spoke to the king, because she was disturbed to the womb about what was going to happen to her son. So she said: ‘Hear me, O lord! Give the child to her… don’t kill it!’

But the other [woman] said, ‘May it be neither mine nor hers… cut it in half!’

²⁷ Then the king said, ‘I’m giving the child to the woman who said, Give it to her, don’t kill it, because she’s his mother.’

²⁸ Well, all Israel soon came to hear of this decision of the king, and they feared when they were in his presence, for they knew that the intelligence of God was in him, and that justice would prevail.

Chapter 4

¹ When King Solomon was reigning in Israel, ² these are the men who were with him and who were in charge:

· AzariJah (the son of Zadok the Priest);

· ³ EliAm and AhiJah (the sons of Saba) were his scribes;

· JehoShaphat (the son AchiLud) was the recorder;

· ⁴ BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) was the commander-in-chief of the army;

· Zadok and AbiAthar were the Priests;

· ⁵ AzariJah (the son of Nathan) directed his staff;

· ZaboUth (the son of Nathan) was the king’s right-hand man;

· ⁶ AciSar was his manager;

· EliAb (the son of Saph) was over the family;

· AdoniRam (the son of Aphdon) was in charge of the tributes.

⁷ So, Solomon assigned twelve men over all Israel to handle matters for him and his house.

⁸ Then there were others who were assigned to [bring the things that Solomon required] for just one month each year, and these are their names:

· The son of Or had the mountains of EphraIm;

· ⁹ The son of Dakar had MachEmas, Salabin, BethSamus AiLon, and BethAnan;

· ¹⁰ The son of Esdi had ArabOth, SochOth, and all the land of Opher;

· ¹¹ The son of AminAdab (who was married to Solomon’s daughter) had all of NephthaDor and TephAth;

· ¹² BaAna (the son of AchiLouth) had IthAnak, MagidDo, and the whole house of San near Sesathan and below Esrae, from BethSan to SebelMaula, to MaEber and Lucam;

· ¹³ The son of Gaber from Gilead was over a piece of measured land around EreGaba (which is in Bashan) that included sixty great walled cities that were [protected by] brass bars;

· ¹⁴ AchiNadab (the son of SadDo) had MaAnaim;

· ¹⁵ AchimaAs (who was married to Solomon’s daughter BasEmath) was over [the land of] NaphTali;

· ¹⁶ BaAnah (the son HushAi) was in charge of BaalOth and [the land of] Asher;

· ¹⁷ JehoShaphat (the son ParuAh) had [the land of] IsSachar;

· ¹⁸ Shemei (the son of ElAh) had [the land of] BenJamin;

· ¹⁹ Gaber (the son Adai) had the land of Gilead, [the land of] Seon (the king of Heshbon), [the land of] Og (the king of Bashan), and [the land of] Naseb (in the land of Judah).

²⁰ Now, Judah and Israel had grown so large that [their people] were as the sands of the sea in number, and they all ate, drank, and rejoiced, ²¹ for Solomon was the ruler in all their kingdoms from the river in the land of the Philistines to the borders of Egypt. They also brought Solomon many gifts, and they served him throughout all the days of his life.

²² Now, these are the things that Solomon required at his table each day:

· Two hundred bushels of fine flour,

· Four hundred bushels of beaten flour,

· ²³ Ten choice calves,

· Twenty grass-fed oxen,

· A hundred sheep,

· And well-fed male and female antelope.

²⁴ Solomon was also the ruler of all the land on the [east] side of the [Jordan], and there was peace throughout the whole country. ²⁵ [So, during all the days of Solomon, the people] in Judah and Israel (from Dan to BeerSheba) harvested their own grapevines and [lived] under their own fig trees.

²⁶ Now, Solomon had forty thousand breeding horses (for his chariots) and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ And those who he put in charge brought the things that were required to the king’s table (each one in his own month)… they did just as they were told and didn’t change a word. ²⁸ They brought barley and straw for the horses, and they took the chariots wherever the king needed them or arranged for them to be.

²⁹ Well, Jehovah gave intelligence and great wisdom to Solomon, and it kept growing in his heart like the sands of the sea. ³⁰ So, Solomon’s intelligence grew greater than that of all the men of ancient times, and of all the intelligent ones of Egypt. ³¹ His understanding was greater than all men; he was wiser than GaitThan the Zarite, and AiNan, ChalKal, and Darda (the sons of Mal).

³² Solomon spoke three thousand parables and [wrote] five thousand songs. ³³ He spoke about the cedars of Lebanon, of the hyssop, and of [plants that grow] through walls. He spoke about cattle, flying creatures, things that crawl, and about things that live in water…³⁴ and people everywhere would come to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Kings from all over the earth, when they heard of his wisdom, would bring him gifts.

Chapter 5

¹ Then Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent his servants to anoint Solomon in place of his father David, because Hiram loved David for as long as he lived.

² And Solomon sent [a message] to Hiram, saying, ³ ‘You know that my father David was unable to build a [Temple] to the Name of Jehovah my God, because of fighting the wars that were going on around him, and until Jehovah put his enemies under the soles of his feet. ⁴ And now Jehovah my God has provided rest for me all around [my land], for there are no more plotters or wicked people near me. ⁵ So, now I’m talking about building a [Temple] to the Name of Jehovah my God, for as He told my father David, Your son who I will put on your throne after you will build the [Temple] to My Name.

⁶ ‘Now, have your men cut some timber for me from the trees in Lebanon, and I’ll pay whatever you ask for their wages. And {Look!} I’ll also send my servants to go with your servants. After all, no one understands timber cutting better than the Sidonians.’

⁷ And when Hiram received Solomon’s message, he was overjoyed and said, ‘May the God who gave David an intelligent son to rule over this great people be praised today.’

⁸ So he sent [a message] to Solomon replying: ‘I’ve heard of everything that you asked of me, and I will send all the pine and cedar lumber that you requested. ⁹ My servants will cut them in Lebanon, carry them to the sea, and haul them on barges to wherever you tell me. I’ll drop them off, and you can carry them on from there. All I ask in return is that you send some loaves of bread for my house.’

¹⁰ So, Hiram gave Solomon all the cedars and pines that he wanted. ¹¹ And Solomon sent Hiram one hundred-and-thirty thousand bushels of wheat, and a hundred-and-twenty thousand gallons of beaten olive oil for his house in return. In fact, he sent that amount to Hiram every year.

¹² Well, Jehovah gave Solomon the wisdom he had asked for, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, for they had made a treaty between them. ¹³ And the king sent (as a tribute from all Israel) thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He would send ten thousand of them to Lebanon each month in rotation, and they would spend a month in Lebanon, then two months at home. And AdoniRam was in charge of this tribute.

¹⁵ Now, Solomon had seventy thousand laborers and eighty thousand stonecutters [working] in the mountains. ¹⁶ And (in addition to those who Solomon placed in charge of his construction project) he had three thousand six hundred supervisors on the job. ¹⁷ Then the king instructed them to set in place huge valuable stone blocks as the foundations for the building. ¹⁸ And the sons of Solomon and Hiram then laid them in place, while they cut the blocks and the timbers, which took three years.

Chapter 6

¹ Well, it was in the four hundred and fortieth year after the sons Israel left Egypt (in the fourth year and second month of Solomon’s reign over Israel) that the foundation of the Temple of Jehovah was laid. ² It was seventy feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and forty-feet tall. ³ It had a columned front entryway that was as tall as the Temple, and it was seventeen-feet wide. Then he went on to complete its construction.

⁴ There was also a hidden window in the Temple that leaned inward, ⁵ and there was an eve along the top of the wall ⁶ that ran all the way around the building to the entryway. There were also [three stories] of rooms inside the Temple. The room at the top was about eight-feet wide, the one in middle was about ten-feet wide, and the one at the bottom was about eleven-feet wide.

⁷ Solomon also built a walkway around the outside of the temple that wasn’t joined to its walls. The Temple was built with rough-chiseled stone, and the sound of hammers, axes, and other metal tools wasn’t heard during its construction. ⁸ There was a vestibule that stood under a protrusion on the right side of the building, and there was a winding stairway in the middle, that led to the third story.

⁹ After the [exterior] was built, Solomon had the [interior walls] covered with cedar [panels]. ¹⁰ He also built the interior chamber in the middle of the Temple, which stood nine-feet high, and it was covered in cedar [panels].

¹¹ Then Jehovah sent word to Solomon, saying, ¹² ‘Regarding this [Temple] that you’re building; if you follow My instructions and decisions, and obey all My Commandments, what I said to your father David will prove true… ¹³ I will camp in the midst of the sons Israel, and I won’t abandon My people Israel.’

¹⁴ So then, Solomon went on to finish the Temple. ¹⁵ He paneled all its interior walls, floors, and beams with cedar. It was vaulted with timbers on the inside, and the walls were ribbed with pine. ¹⁶ So inside, the measurement from the floor to the ceiling beams was thirty-six feet. And inside the entryway, he built the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷ For, the front of the Temple rose seventy-five feet high at the entrance.

¹⁸ Now, the interior cedar panels were all carved with decorations of gourds and spread leaves, and none of the stonework could be seen from the inside. ¹⁹ Inside the entryway, in the center of the Temple, a place was made to hold the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah. ²⁰ It was thirty-five feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and thirty-five feet tall, and it was totally enclosed and covered in gold.

²¹ He also made an Altar in front of the entrance and covered it with gold. ²² In fact, by the time of its completion, the whole building was covered with gold. ²³ He also made two wooden cherubs of cypress that he placed on either side of the entrance. They each stood eighteen-feet high, ²⁴ each of their wings were nine-feet long, and the distance from wing-tip to wing-tip was eighteen feet. ²⁵ Both of the cherubs were the same size. ²⁶ He also had two eighteen-foot cherubs built that were placed in the innermost part of the Temple. ²⁷ They too had spread wings that touched each other and ran to the walls on either side of the building’s interior. ²⁸ Then the cherubs were covered in gold, ²⁹ and the walls around the Temple were engraved with cherubs and palms… both the innermost and outermost portions. ³⁰ And he even covered the floors of the whole building with gold… both the innermost portions and the outer portions.

³¹ The front entrance was made of juniper wood, and there were five doorways. ³² Two doors were made of pines that were carved with cherubs and palms. There were also some panels that could be removed to enlarge the entrance. And everything was covered with gold, including the engraved cherubs and palms.

³³ The Temple vestibule had juniper doorposts and four columns. ³⁴ Both of the doors were made of pine, and they were hinged into a bi-fold configuration. ³⁵ They also had panels that were carved with cherubs and palm leaves, and then they were entirely covered in gold.

³⁶ Next, [Solomon] built the inner courtyard. It had three rows of uncut stones, and it was surrounded by cedar posts. ³⁷ Then he had a veil made for the courtyard that separated it from the columned porch, which stood in front of the Temple.

³⁸ So, in the eleventh year, in the month of Baal (the eighth month), the Temple was finally completed per [Solomon’s] instructions and design.

Chapter 7

¹ Then during the next thirteen years, Solomon built his own palace, ² which [he called] ‘The House of the Forest of Lebanon.’ It was a hundred-and-seventy feet long, eighty-five feet wide, fifty-feet tall, and it had four rows of cedar columns that ran up to cedar rafters. ³ The whole building was decorated with latticework on the upper parts of the columns, and there were forty-five columns per row. ⁴ There were three windows on each of three sides, ⁵ and they and the three doorways were all arched.

⁶ It also had a columned front porch that was eighty-five feet long and fifty-feet wide, that was joined to a covering, which was supported by columns and thick beams on the front side. ⁷ This was where his throne was located that he judged from, and there was a columned porch over his judgment seat. ⁸ Then there was a courtyard in front of the place where he sat, which could be expanded whenever there was a need to do so.

He also built a house for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom he had taken as his wife, which looked like his columned porch. ⁹ All of this was constructed of valuable stones, which had been chiseled at intervals on the inside, and ran from the foundation to the moldings, and to the large courtyard on the outside.

¹⁰ The foundation that he laid was also made of large, valuable stones, each of which measured seventeen feet by fourteen feet, ¹¹ and the roof was made of valuable stones and cedar beams.

¹² The large courtyard was circled by three rows of uncut stones and a row of carved cedar posts.

Well, after Solomon completed his palace, ¹³ he sent and called for Hiram out of Tyre, ¹⁴ who was the son of a widow from the tribe of NaphTali, and whose father was a Tyranian man. For, he was gifted when it came to working brass (and at other crafts), and he was filled with knowledge on how to do all sorts of metalwork. He was brought to King Solomon, because he was able to do everything that needed to be done.

¹⁵ He then smelted and cast two columns for the Temple porch that were each thirty-feet tall and twenty-four feet in circumference. They were grooved to a depth of four fingers, ¹⁶ and he molded two brass capitals for the tops of the columns that were each eight-feet tall. ¹⁷ Then he made brass decorations for each capital ¹⁸ that consisted of rows of hanging pomegranates, ¹⁹ and the top of each column was shaped like a lily.

Then he finished off the columns for the porch with a ridge that ran between the capitals. It was six-and-a-half feet wide, ²⁰ and it was covered with two hundred rows of pomegranates. ²¹ He then erected these columns at the columned porch of the Temple, and he named one column JaKin, and the other Boaz. ²² Thereafter, he covered [the rest of] the columns with [copper] lilies. And with that, he finished his work on the columns.

²³ Next, he cast the [Sacred] Sea. It was round and seventeen-feet wide from rim to rim. It was eight-feet high and about fifty-feet in circumference. ²⁴ The base beneath it was seventeen-feet wide, and it was made of two rows of supports that were cast in a foundry furnace. ²⁵ The Sea itself was supported by twelve metal oxen, three of which faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east. The Sea was supported on top of them, ²⁶ and of course, all their posteriors faced inward. The middle of the Sea was shaped like a palm, but its rim was like that of a cup, with lily buds around the top. It had a capacity of about eleven hundred gallons.

²⁷ Then [Hiram] made ten brass carts. They were each eight-feet long, six-and-a-half feet wide, and twenty-inches tall. ²⁸ The carts were made of panels that were joined into frames. ²⁹ And the panels [were carved with] lions, oxen, and cherubs. In fact, lions, oxen, and cherubs covered all parts of the carts, including the bases. ³⁰ Each of the carts had four brass wheels, and all their fastenings were made of brass. Then, coming from the base were four supports that held washtubs, which were twenty-inches long. ³¹ [The tub supports] were round (two-and-a-half feet wide at the top), and they were covered with carvings. However, the four supports were rectangular, not round.

³² The brass wheels were mounted at the base of the supports, and the wheels each had spokes, standing two-and-a-half feet tall. ³³ In fact, they looked like chariot wheels. Then all the spokes were joined to cast axels.

³⁴ There were supports that stuck out at the corners of each of the cart’s bases as handles, ³⁵ which were mounted along the top of each base. They were ten-inches around and stood high for handholds. ³⁶ All the connecting parts [were carved] with cherubs, lions, and palms that were standing next to each other, on the front, on the inside, and all around. ³⁷ He made all ten carts exactly alike and to the same dimensions.

³⁸ Then he made the ten brass washtubs. They each held two hundred-and-thirty gallons [of water], and they were eight-feet long. Then each of the washtubs was mounted on the carts. ³⁹ Five were placed on the Temple’s right side, and the other five on its left side. Then the [Sacred] Sea was placed to the right of the Temple, on its southeast corner.

⁴⁰ Next, Hiram made the cooking pots, the tongs, and the bowls. ⁴¹ And soon he had completed making all the things for King Solomon at the Temple of Jehovah – the two columns; the twisted decorations that were put on the capitals of the two columns; the carvings for the tops of the columns; ⁴² and the pomegranates (four hundred of which were used as decorations). Two rows of [the pomegranates] were put on each column, and the rest were used as decorations ⁴³ for the carts, the metal washtubs that were mounted on them and their axels, rims, and spokes, as well as for ⁴⁴ the Sea and its twelve oxen that supported it, ⁴⁵ and for the cooking pots, tongs, and bowls. He [personally] made all these things for King Solomon and for the Temple of Jehovah.

All together, he [decorated] forty-eight columns for the palace of the king and for the Temple of Jehovah. And everything that Hiram made for the king was entirely of brass. ⁴⁶ He did all his casting near the Jordan River, underground, in a place that was located between SucCoth and ZarEthan. ⁴⁷ Solomon already had all the materials stored away, since he had received so much brass.

⁴⁸ Then Solomon went on to make the rest of the items for the Temple of Jehovah… the golden Altar, the gold table for the showbread, ⁴⁹ the solid-gold lamp stands that were placed at the entrance (five on the right side and five on the left side), with their gold bowls, lamps, and oil funnels; ⁵⁰ plus the gold thresholds, fasteners, bowls, saucers, and incense pans. And the doorway to the innermost part of the Temple (the Holy of Holies) and the doors to the entrance of the Temple itself were made of gold. ⁵¹ So, Solomon finally finished his ‘house’ for Jehovah. And he carried in all the holy things of David his father, as well as all his own holy things, including silver, gold, and other things for the treasury of the Temple of Jehovah.

Chapter 8

¹ Then King Solomon held a meeting with all the elders of Israel there on [Mount] Zion, to talk about bringing the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah out of the city of David (which was on Mount Zion). ² This was in the month of Athanim (the seventh month), and because it was a holiday, all the elders of Israel were already there.

³ Then the Priests picked up the Chest ⁴ from the Tent of Proofs, along with all the holy items that were there, ⁵ and the king and all Israel stood before the Chest and sacrificed multitudes of oxen and sheep.

⁶ Then the Priests carried the Chest and put it into its place near the entrance of the Temple… in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs ⁷ (for the cherubs had open, spread wings that covered the Chest and the other holy things that were on its cover). ⁸ And the only parts that stuck out of the Holy [of Holies] were the sacred staves, but even they couldn’t be seen from outside [the Temple]. ⁹ Of course, there was nothing in the Chest except the two stone tablets of the Sacred Agreement that Jehovah made with the sons of Israel after they left the land of Egypt, and which were put there by Moses at the Dry Place (Horeb).

¹⁰ And then, as the Priests were coming out of the Holy Place, a mist filled the whole building. ¹¹ So the Priests were unable to stand and officiate before the mist, because the glory of Jehovah filled the whole Temple.

¹² Then Solomon said: ‘Jehovah, You spoke of camping in dimness. ¹³ And now I’ve built a [Temple] to Your Name, and prepared a Holy Place for You. So, this is Your chair and a place for You to camp through the ages.’

¹⁴ Then he turned around, and all Israel started praising the king, for the whole gathering of Israel was standing there. ¹⁵ And [the king] said, ‘Praise Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth about my father David, and who filled his hands, saying, From the day that I led My people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city [for Myself] in one of the chiefdoms of Israel, where a [Temple] would be built to My Name. ¹⁶ But now I’ve chosen Jerusalem as a place to put My Name, and I’ve chosen David to lead My people Israel. ¹⁷ And that’s why the heart of my father David was moved to build a [Temple] to the Name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

¹⁸ ‘Then, Jehovah said to my father David: Because your heart was moved to build a [Temple] to My Name, you’ve done a good thing, because it came from your heart! ¹⁹ However, you may not personally build the [Temple]… it will be built by a son who comes from you. He will build the [Temple] to My Name.’

²⁰ ‘So, Jehovah caused these things that He said to happen. I replaced my father David and sat down on the throne of Israel, just as Jehovah said, and now I’ve built the [Temple] to the Name of Jehovah the God of Israel. ²¹ And I’ve created a place for the Chest that contains the Sacred Agreement that Jehovah made with our ancestors, when He led them out of the land of Egypt.’

²² Then Solomon stood before the Altar of Jehovah, there in front of the whole gathering of Israel, and he raised his arms toward heaven ²³ and said, ‘O Jehovah, God of Israel; there are no gods in heaven above or on the earth below that are like You. For, You have kept Your Agreement and shown mercy to Your servant… the one who has walked before You with his whole heart, Your servant David, my father. ²⁴ You spoke to him with Your mouth, and with Your hands You’ve fulfilled what [You promised to him] today. ²⁵ And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel; keep [the promise] that You made with my father David when You said, There will always be a man who sits before Me on the throne of Israel for as long as your children keep following Me, as you have followed Me.’

²⁶ ‘So now, O Jehovah, God of Israel; may the words that You said to my father David prove to be true. ²⁷ But will You really live on the earth with men, when the heavens of the heavens can’t contain You? How can this [Temple] that I built to Your Name expect to do so?

²⁸ ‘Please listen to my prayer, O Jehovah, God of Israel… hear the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today! ²⁹ May Your eyes watch over this [Temple] both day and night, for it’s the place where You said that You would put Your Name.

‘From Your home in the heavens, please listen to the prayers that Your servants will pray in this place both day and night, ³⁰ and provide the things that Your servant and all Your people Israel will ask for when they pray here… answer them and provide! ³¹ And if they should sin against their neighbors and take an oath to curse them, and then come and openly declare such a thing before Your Altar in this [Temple], ³² may You listen from the heavens and act… judge Your people Israel! Declare the lawless one lawlessness, and bring his [evil] ways upon his own head, but give justice to the righteous… treat the righteous with righteousness!

³³ ‘And when Your people Israel sin against You, may they fail before their enemies until they return and acknowledge Your Name, and then pray and beg before You in this [Temple]. ³⁴ Then please listen to them from the heavens and forgive the sins of Your people Israel, and return them to this land that You gave to their ancestors.

³⁵ ‘And when You hold back the sky and don’t allow rain to fall because of their sins against You, and then they come to pray in this place and acknowledge Your Name and turn away from their sins after You’ve humbled them; ³⁶ please listen from the heavens and forgive the sins of Your servants… Your people Israel. Show them a better way to act, and then provide rain for this land that You’ve given Your people as their inheritance.

³⁷ ‘And if there should be a famine, a plague, a fire, an infestation of locusts, or a blight [on the crops]; or if an enemy should come against one of our cities (no matter what the event or misery), may all the prayers and supplications of every man be heard, so that You will come to know the pain in their hearts. ³⁸ And whenever a man spreads out his arms in this ³⁹ home that has been prepared for You, may You hear him from the heavens, forgive him, and act. Give each man what he deserves by the way he acts, for only You know what’s in their hearts. You alone know what’s in the hearts of all the sons of men. ⁴⁰ So, they should fear You all the days of their lives that they spend on this land that You’ve given to our ancestors.

⁴¹ ‘And as for the aliens who are not from Your people; ⁴² when they come to this place that has been prepared as Your home to pray, ⁴³ please listen to them from heaven and do everything that they ask, so all the people on the earth will know Your Name and come to fear You… just as Your people Israel should know that Your Name has been called upon this [Temple] that I built.

⁴⁴ ‘And if Your people go to war against their enemies, following Your directions, and if they pray in the Name of the Lord in this city that You’ve chosen and in this [Temple] that I’ve built to Your Name, ⁴⁵ then please listen to their prayers and supplications from heaven, and bring them justice.

⁴⁶ ‘And when they sin against You (for there is no man who doesn’t sin) and You hand them over to their enemies who take them away as captives into a land that is nearby or far away; ⁴⁷ and if, in the land where they are, they turn back and start begging for Your [help], saying, We have sinned; We have done wrong; We have acted lawlessly; ⁴⁸ and they turn back to You with all their hearts and souls, there in the land of their enemies who took them there, and pray to You in the direction of the land that You gave to their ancestors, and to the city that You’ve chosen, and to the [Temple] that I built to Your Name; ⁴⁹ then please listen from heaven and from the home that has been prepared for You. ⁵⁰ Forgive the wrongs that they did when they sinned against You, and the wicked ways in which they disregarded You, and give compassion to the ones who took them as captives, so they will have pity for them. ⁵¹ For, they are Your people and Your inheritance. You led them out of the land of Egypt… from the midst of that iron-foundry furnace.

⁵² ‘May Your eyes and Your ears [always] be open to the cries of Your servants and to the pleas of Your people Israel. Please listen to them, no matter what they call to You for, ⁵³ because You have drawn them and set them apart for Yourself as an inheritance from among all the peoples of the earth, and You spoke to them through Your servant Moses when You led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah.’

Then Solomon spoke concerning the Temple, after he had completed its construction. ‘When He made the sun in the sky, Jehovah said: I will live in a dimly-lit place, so build a new [Temple] for Me to dwell in… and may it be a beautiful place for your sakes. {Look!} Isn’t that what’s written as a song in the scroll?’

⁵⁴ And after Solomon finished his prayer and his requests to Jehovah, he stood up before the Altar of Jehovah (because he had been kneeling before it), then he raised his arms toward heaven ⁵⁵ and he blest the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying, ⁵⁶ ‘Praise Jehovah, for He has brought rest to His people Israel today, just as He promised (among all the many things that He said). For, not a word of the many things He said through His servants has failed to come true.

⁵⁷ ‘May Jehovah our God be with us, as He has been with our ancestors. May He not abandon us or turn from us. ⁵⁸ May He move our hearts toward Him, so we will follow in all His ways, and keep the Commandments and orders that He gave to our ancestors. ⁵⁹ And may the things that I’ve begged for, here before Jehovah our God, come true today. May they be heard by Jehovah our God day and night, and may He always do the right thing for His servant and for His people Israel, day in and day out, ⁶⁰ so that all the people on the earth will come to know that Jehovah is God, and that there is no other. ⁶¹ And may our hearts become perfect to Jehovah our God, and may we follow His orders and keep His Commandments in sacredness, as we are doing today.’

⁶² Then the king and all the sons of Israel offered sacrifices before Jehovah. ⁶³ King Solomon offered twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred-and-twenty thousand sheep as a peace offering to Jehovah. Then the king inaugurated the [Temple] of Jehovah before all the sons of Israel.

⁶⁴ And on that holy day, the king stood in the middle of the courtyard (in front of the Temple of Jehovah) and prepared whole burnt offerings as sacrifices, and he offered the fat of the peace offerings there, because the brass Altar that was before Jehovah was just too small, so it couldn’t handle all the whole burnt-offerings, gift offerings, and peace-offering sacrifices.

⁶⁵ Then Solomon held a holiday feast that day, and all Israel attended. It was a huge gathering, for people had come from as far as Hamath and the [Nile] River to stand before Jehovah God at the [Temple] that [Solomon] had built. They ate, drank, and rejoiced before Jehovah God for seven days. ⁶⁶ And on the eighth day, [Solomon] sent the people away, and they offered ages of blessings to the king as they left. So, they all returned to their [homes] rejoicing over all the good things that Jehovah had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.

Chapter 9

¹ Well, after Solomon had finished building the Temple of Jehovah, his own palace, and all the other things that he wanted to do, ² Jehovah appeared to him a second time (as He had appeared in Gibeon). ³ And [God] said to him, ‘I heard what you said in your prayer, and of the things you asked and begged Me for, and I’ve done everything that you asked for in your prayer… I’ve made this [Temple] (which you built to [honor] My Name) holy through the ages, and I will [always] watch over it and keep it in My heart. ⁴ And if you will continue to follow Me uprightly and with sacredness in your heart, as did your father David, and do everything that I told him by following My orders and Commandments, ⁵ I will elevate the throne of your kingdom over Israel through the ages, as I promised your father. For I told him, There will always be a man [who is descended from you] to lead Israel.

⁶ ‘However, if you or your descendants turn away from Me and fail to keep My Commandments and orders that Moses put before you, and then go and serve other gods and bow before them, ⁷ I will remove Israel from the land that I’ve given to them, and I will turn My face away from this [Temple] that I’ve made holy to My Name. Then Israel will become extinct and a topic of discussion among all the people. ⁸ And everyone who passes by this lofty [Temple] will be amazed and whistle, asking, Why did Jehovah do such a thing to this land and to this [Temple]? ⁹ And they will be told, Because they abandoned their God – the God of their ancestors, Jehovah – who led them out of the house of slavery in Egypt. Then they took hold of alien gods, and bowed before them and served them. This is why Jehovah brought all these bad things upon them.’

¹⁰ Well, this happened some twenty years after Solomon built the two houses – the [Temple] of Jehovah and the [palace] of the king.

¹¹ Hiram, the king of Tyre, had helped Solomon by providing the cedar and pine boards, [some of] the gold, and everything else [that Solomon asked for]. So, King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

¹² Well, when Hiram traveled from Tyre to Galilee to look at the cities that Solomon had given him, he wasn’t pleased with them. ¹³ So, he asked, ‘What kind of cities have you given your brother?’ And from then on, he just referred to them as ‘the borders.’

¹⁴ Now, Hiram had sent Solomon four-and-a-half tons of gold ¹⁵ that he had plundered, to build the Temple of Jehovah, the king’s palace, the wall around Jerusalem (to fortify the city of David), as well as the cities of MegidDo and GeZer.

¹⁶ It was Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) who first took GeZer. He burned it and killed all the CanaAnites who lived in the city, and then he gave it to Solomon as a dowry for his daughter, when she married Solomon.

¹⁷ Then Solomon rebuilt GeZer, ¹⁸ as well as Lower BethHoron, BaalAth, and Tadmor (which is in the desert). ¹⁹ He also built many other fortified cities, as well as forts for his chariots and cavalry, and he had many other construction projects in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout all the land that he ruled.

²⁰ However, the Hittites, Amorites, Pherezites, CanaAnites, Hivites, Jebusites, and Gergesites (all those who weren’t sons of Israel) ²¹ and their children remained in the land, because the sons of Israel weren’t able to wipe them out. So, Solomon has made them pay a tribute down to this day. ²² And many of these non-Israelites served Solomon as soldiers and as lieutenants over his chariots and cavalry. ²³ Many were also put in charge over Solomon’s construction projects (some five hundred-and-fifty of them) and they were over the people who were doing the work.

²⁴ Now, the daughter of Pharaoh left the city of David and she went to live in the house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built MilLo.

²⁵ Well, three times each year, Solomon sacrificed whole burnt offerings and peace offerings on the Altar that he’d built to Jehovah. He also burned incense on it, there before Jehovah, until he finished the Temple.

²⁶ Then King Solomon built a ship in GeBer (which is next to the seaport of ElAth on the border of Edom). ²⁷ And Hiram sent some of his servants who were mariners and knew the sea, to do the rowing… in order to help the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ Then they [attacked] SopheRam and brought back gold to King Solomon – some sixteen tons of it.

Chapter 10

¹ Well, the Queen of Sheba had heard of Solomon’s fame and of the Name Jehovah, so she came to test him with problems.

² When she came to Jerusalem, she brought a very large contingent [of servants], as well as camels that were carrying spices, a huge amount of gold, and many valuable gems. So, she went to King Solomon and spoke to him about all the things that were in her heart. ³ Then Solomon answered all her questions… he didn’t overlook a thing, but explained everything to her. ⁴ And when the Queen of Sheba saw how knowledgeable Solomon was, the palace that he had built, ⁵ all the food that he had, the way his servants were assigned, the jobs that his officials were given, how they were dressed, as well as his wine servers, and the whole burnt offerings that he sacrificed at the Temple of Jehovah, she was beside herself.

⁶ Then she said to King Solomon, ‘Everything that I’ve heard about you in my land and about your knowledge is true. ⁷ I came here because I didn’t believe the things that I was being told; but now I find that it’s all beyond what was reported in my land. ⁸ Why, your wives and servants are blest to be able to stand before you all the time and listen to your wisdom. ⁹ And Jehovah your God, who chose you and put you on the throne of Israel, must love Israel and [plan to] watch over it through the ages, to set you as king over them and righteously hear and judge their cases.’

¹⁰ Then she gave Solomon a ton-and-a-half of gold, a huge amount of spices, and many precious gems. Never before had anyone brought so many spices as those that the Queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon.

¹¹ Then Hiram sent a ship carrying gold from Ophir, as well as cut lumber and valuable stones. ¹² The king used the timber as supports for the Temple of Jehovah and the king’s palace, as well as for stringed instruments and lutes for the musicians. Never before had such wood been seen in the land (or anywhere else, for that matter).

¹³ Then King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she asked for and desired… in addition to all the other gifts that King Solomon gave her. So, she returned to her land with all her servants.

¹⁴ And the weight of the gold that came to Solomon that year was thirty-two tons, ¹⁵ which didn’t include the tributes that the people or the merchants brought, or that which was brought by kings on the other side of the Jordan, or from the governors of the land.

¹⁶ Then King Solomon had three hundred spears made from hammered gold, each of which was made from six hundred gold coins. ¹⁷ And he had three hundred small shields made of hammered gold, each of which was made from three large gold coins. Then the king had them mounted in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸ Thereafter, the king had a huge throne made from ivory that was covered with pure gold, ¹⁹ and there were six stairs up to the throne. On the upper part of the throne there were calves on the backside. There were also handrails on each side, with [carved] lions standing beside them, ²⁰ twelve on both sides next to the stairs. There was never anything like it in the kingdom before.

²¹ Then all the [dishes, cups, and bowls] that were used by Solomon were completely made of gold, as were the bathtubs and vases in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. Nothing there was made of silver, because it was too common in the days of Solomon.

²² Solomon also owned a ship that sailed the sea from Tharsis, along with the ships of Hiram. And once every three years, the ship brought gold, silver, and cut gems for the king. ²³ So, Solomon became greater than all the other kings of the earth in both wealth and in intelligence; ²⁴ and all the kings of the earth came to Solomon to hear the wisdom that Jehovah had put into his heart. ²⁵ And each one brought gifts of silver, gold, clothing, balsam, spices, horses, and mules each year.

²⁶ Solomon also obtained chariots and horsemen. He had a thousand, four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he kept in forts throughout the land and with himself in Jerusalem.

²⁷ The king’s silver was as common as stones in Jerusalem, and his cedars were as common as trees in the plains.

²⁸ Solomon bought his horses from Egypt and Kue, where the king’s merchants took items to barter. ²⁹ He also bought chariots from Egypt, for which he paid six-hundred silver coins each, and a hundred-and-fifty silver coins for each horse. Then he sold them to the kings of the Hittites and Syria, but they had to come to him in order to pick them up.

Chapter 11

¹ King Solomon very fond of women, so he took several foreigners as wives, such as the daughter of Pharaoh, as well as Moabites, Ammonites, Idumeans, Sidonians, and Hittites… ² which Jehovah had forbidden the sons of Israel to do. He told them, ‘You must not [marry] them, and they must not come to you, for they will turn your hearts [toward serving] their idols.’

However, Solomon [was a slave] to love, ³ so before long he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and these foreign wives changed his heart. ⁴ Soon Solomon’s wives turned his heart to worshiping other gods, so his heart was no longer perfect toward Jehovah his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For, Solomon started serving Astarte (the god of the Sidonians), and Malcolm (the disgusting thing of the Ammonites). ⁶ So, Solomon started doing evil things before Jehovah, and he was no longer a follower of Jehovah, as was David his father.

⁷ Then Solomon built a high place to Camus, the idol of Moab, and to Malcolm, the idol of the sons of Ammon, on the mountain across from Jerusalem. ⁸ And all his foreign wives were doing the same thing… burning incense and sacrificing to their idols. ⁹ And of course, this made Jehovah very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned from Jehovah the God of Israel, who had appeared before him twice ¹⁰ after he had been plainly told not to serve other gods, and to be careful to do everything that Jehovah God told him.

¹¹ So, Jehovah said to Solomon: ‘Because you’ve done these things, and you haven’t followed My Commandments or instructions that I gave you, I will take your kingdom out of your hand, rip it up, and give it to your servant. ¹² However, I won’t do this during your lifetime [out of respect for] David your father. Rather, I will take it from the hands of your son. ¹³ I won’t take the whole kingdom; I’ll leave your son as chief over part of it, because of David My servant, and because of Jerusalem, the city that I’ve chosen.’

¹⁴ So Jehovah sent an enemy against Solomon, Ader the Idumean (from the kingdom of Idumea). ¹⁵ For, when David wiped out Edom, and his General JoAb went to bury the dead, he also cut down the men of Idumea. ¹⁶ Then JoAb stayed in Idumea for the next six months. And although JoAb had destroyed all the men there, ¹⁷ Ader (who was just a small boy then) got away, along with many of his father’s servants, and they went to Egypt. ¹⁸ And when the men of Midian attacked Pharan, the [people there] also joined with him when he went to Pharaoh (the king of Egypt).

¹⁹ Now, when Ader went to Pharaoh, he was given a house, food, and some land, because he was well liked by Pharaoh. He also gave him his sister-in-law as a wife (the sister of Thekemina the elder), ²⁰ and she gave birth to GaneBath, who [Queen] Thekemina raised in her house as one of the sons of Pharaoh.

²¹ Now, when Ader got word in Egypt that David had gone to sleep with his ancestors, and that JoAb (the commander of the army) had been killed, Ader said to Pharaoh: ‘Allow me to return to my country.’

²² And Pharaoh asked him, ‘What have I failed to give you, so that you now wish to return to your country?’

And Ader replied, ‘Not one thing! But now, please send me away.’

²³ Jehovah had also raised another enemy against [Solomon]; Rezon (the son of EliAdah), who had run away from his master HadadEzer, the king of Zobah. ²⁴ He then gathered an army and became the ruler of a confederation that captured Damascus, where he settled and started ruling, ²⁵ and where he remained an enemy to Israel during all the days of Solomon.

Now, this is the bad thing that Ader did against Israel: He started ruling in the land of Edom.

²⁶ Then one of Solomon’s servants, JeroBoam (the son of Nabat the Ephrathite from SariRa), whose mother was widowed, ²⁷ rebelled against King Solomon. This was after King Solomon had built the Akra and ²⁸ after he had completed the outer barrier around the city of his father David.

²⁸ Now, JeroBoam was a mighty man, and when Solomon noticed that this young man was someone who could get things done, he put him in charge of the tributes from the house of Joseph. ²⁹ But one day, as JeroBoam was coming from Jerusalem, he met the Prophet AhiJah the Selonite, who stopped him along the road to talk to him.

Well, AhiJah was wearing a new cape, and they were alone there in the plain. ³⁰ Then AhiJah took off the cape that he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ And he said to JeroBoam, ‘Take ten of these pieces for yourself, because this is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said: {Look!} I’m tearing the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon and giving you ten of its [tribes]. ³² However, two of the [tribes] will remain his, because of My servant David, and on account of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel.

³³ ‘[I’m doing this] because [Solomon] has abandoned Me and is now making offerings to Astarte, the disgusting thing of the Sidonians, to Camus, the idol of Moab, and to their king, the loathsome thing of the sons of Ammon. He is no longer walking in My ways or doing the right things before Me as did his father David. ³⁴ I’m not going to remove the kingdom from him entirely, but I will oppose him all the days of his life. It was only because of My servant David that I chose him. ³⁵ But now I’m going to take the kingdom from the hands of his son and give ten of the [tribes] to you. ³⁶ I will give his son two [tribes], so that a descendant of My servant David will always stand before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I’ve chosen to put My Name.

³⁷ ‘Now, you may take and rule over whatever your soul desires, and you’ll be the king over Israel. ³⁸ And if you’ll watch over all that I’m putting you in charge of, walk in My ways, always do the right things before Me and follow My orders and Commandments (as My servant David did), then I will build you a house that is as sure as the one that I built for David. ³⁹ I’m giving you Israel, and I will mistreat the seed of David because of these things… but not during the lifetime of JeroBoam.’

⁴⁰ Thereafter, Solomon looked for ways to kill JeroBoam, but he got up and ran away to Egypt, to SusAkim the king of Egypt, and he stayed there until Solomon died.

⁴¹ Now, the rest of the words of Solomon – all the many things [he said] and did, and all his wisdom – {Look!} have been written about in the scroll of the sayings of Solomon. ⁴² So, Solomon reigned over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years, ⁴³ and then he went to sleep with his ancestors and they buried him in a tomb in the city of David his father. ⁴⁴ So, his son RehoBoam started reigning in his place.

Chapter 12

¹ Well, King RehoBoam went to Shechem, because all Israel had gone there to coronate him, ² and JeroBoam (the son of Nabat) heard about it. However he was still in Egypt, where he had settled after having to run from Solomon. ³ But the people of Israel called for him and JeroBoam came to them. For, the people had spoken to King RehoBoam, and said: ⁴ ‘Your father oppressed us and kept our necks in a yolk. So now, lighten the load of our service to you. For, your father was a hard taskmaster and he kept us under a heavy load… and then we will serve you!’

⁵ And he replied, ‘Give me three days [to think about it]!’ So, they left.

⁶ Then King RehoBoam went to the elders who used to stand before his father Solomon (while he was still living), and said, ‘Give me your advice. Tell me; what should I say to the people?’

⁷ And they told him, ‘If you wish to serve [as king] to these people today, do as they ask and they will always be your servants.’

⁸ However, he chose not to listen to the advice that the elders had given him, and he took the advice of some young men who he was raised with, and who he had selected as his advisors. ⁹ For when he asked them, ‘What do you advise me to say to these people who came to me and told me to lighten the neck-yolk that my father put on them,’ ¹⁰ the young men that had been brought up with him said, ‘Tell those people who said that your father had put a heavy yoke on them and that you should lighten it: My thinnest part is thicker than the hips of my father. ¹¹ And although my father saddled you to a heavy yoke, I will add more weight to it. And although my father disciplined you with whips, I will discipline you with scorpions.’

¹² So, when all Israel came before King RehoBoam on the third day (for the king of Israel told them, ‘Return to me on the third day’), ¹³ the king spoke harshly to them and chose not to follow the advice that the elders had given him. ¹⁴ Rather, he said what his young men told him to say: ‘My father oppressed you with a neck yolk, and I will add to it. And my father disciplined you with whips, so I will discipline you with scorpions.’

¹⁵ Well, the king just wouldn’t listen to the people, because Jehovah had moved his heart so that what He had said through the Prophet AhiJah the Selonite concerning JeroBoam (the son of Nabat) would come true.

¹⁶ Now, all Israel knew that the king wasn’t listening to them. So they replied to him: ‘What do we owe David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. O Israel, run to you tents… now! Let the house of David do its own grazing!’

And with that, all Israel returned to their tents, ¹⁷ and RehoBoam only ruled over the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸ For, when the king sent AdoniRam to collect the tribute, all Israel stoned him to death… and King RehoBoam had to get on his chariot and flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So from that day on, Israel annulled its allegiance to the house of David.

²⁰ And when [the people of] Israel heard that JeroBoam had returned from Egypt, they called him to come to a meeting and gave him the rulership over Israel. And after that, they never again followed the house of David… only the tribes of Judah and BenJamin did so.

²¹ Well, after RehoBoam got back to Jerusalem, he held a meeting with the gathering of Judah and the tribe of BenJamin – a hundred-and-twenty thousand young warriors – to discuss going to war against the house of Israel, in order to return them to the kingdom of RehoBoam, the son of Solomon. ²² However, Jehovah sent word through His servant ShemaiJah, who was told, ²³ ‘Speak to RehoBoam (the son of Solomon) the king of Judah, and to the house of Judah, BenJamin, and the rest of the people, and tell them that ²⁴ this is what Jehovah says: You must not go to war against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Return to your homes, because I have caused this to happen.’

So, they paid attention to words of Jehovah, because they didn’t want to oppose what He said.

²⁵ Thereafter, JeroBoam built Shechem in the hills of EphraIm and ruled from there, and then he built PenuEl. ²⁶ Then JeroBoam said in his heart, ‘{Look!} I will [not] return the kingdom to the house of David. ²⁷ And if these people go to offer sacrifices in the [Temple] of Jehovah in Jerusalem, they will soon turn their hearts toward Jehovah and to RehoBoam, the king of Judah. Then they’ll kill me.’

²⁸ So the king held a meeting, and he had two gold heifers made. Then he said to the people: ‘I don’t want you going up to Jerusalem anymore. Look, here are your gods that led you out of the land of Egypt, O Israel!’

²⁹ So, he put one [of the idols] in BethEl, and the other in Dan. ³⁰ And because of this sin, the people started worshiping the one that he put in Dan, and they no longer went to the Temple of Jehovah.

³¹ Then the king had temples made on hilltops, and he appointed priests from among all the people (who weren’t of the sons of Levi). ³² JeroBoam also turned the fifteenth day of the eighth month into a holiday (the same as in the land of Judah). Then he went to BethEl… he went up to the altar that he made there to sacrifice heifers; and there in BethEl, he assigned the priests of the high places that he had made.

³³ It was on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (which was the holiday that he created in his own heart for the sons of Israel) that he went up to the altar that he made and offered sacrifices there.

Chapter 13

¹ And {Look!} a man of God came to BethEl from Judah, with a message from Jehovah. He got up on the sacrificial altar there ² and called out the words of Jehovah. He said: ‘O altar; O altar; this is what Jehovah has said: {Look!} A son has been born in the house of David, JosiJah is his name, and he will sacrifice the priests of the high places upon you – those who are offering sacrifices upon you – and he will burn their bones upon you.’

³ Then he performed a miracle; he said, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: {Look!} The altar has been ripped, and all the fat that was put on it is being spilled!’ ⁴ And when King JeroBoam heard what the man of God said upon the altar in BethEl, he reached toward the altar and shouted, ‘Seize him!’ But as he said that, the hand that he stuck out withered, and he wasn’t able to draw it back. ⁵ Then the altar miraculously cracked and spilled all the fat that had been placed there, just as the man of God told them that Jehovah had said.

⁶ Then King JeroBoam said to the man of God: ‘Go before the face of Jehovah your God and beg Him to return my hand to me!’

So the man of God [spoke to] the face of Jehovah, and the king’s hand returned to him and became as it was before. ⁷ Then the king said to the man of God: ‘Come with me to my palace and dine with me, and I’ll give you a gift.’

⁸ But the man of God said to the king, ‘Even if you were to give me half of everything that’s [in] your palace, I wouldn’t go with you. Nor would I eat food or drink water in this place. ⁹ For, this is what Jehovah told me: Don’t eat bread, don’t drink water, and don’t return by the same way you came.’

¹⁰ Then he left BethEl and turned toward home by another route.

¹¹ Well, there was a prophet who lived in BethEl who was an older man. And when his sons came to him and told him everything that the man of God had done that day in BethEl, and of the words that he had spoken to the king, the face of their father changed. ¹² And he asked them, ‘Which way did he go?’

So, his sons pointed out the way that the man of God was traveling toward Judah, ¹³ and he said to his sons, ‘Saddle my burro for me!’

¹⁴ So they saddled his burro and he mounted it, then he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak tree. And he asked, ‘Are you the man of God who came from Judah?’

And he replied, ‘I am.’

¹⁵ And [the prophet] said, ‘Come with me and have something to eat.’

¹⁶ But [the man of God] replied, ‘There’s no way that I can come with you; nor may I eat bread or drink water in this place. ¹⁷ For, Jehovah told me, You must not eat any bread or drink any water there; and you must not return by the same way you came.’

¹⁸ However he replied, ‘But I’m a prophet like you, and a messenger [of God] told me these words from Jehovah… he said, Take him back to your house and give him some food and water!’ (However, he was lying).

¹⁹ So, [the man of God] went back with him and he ate bread and drank water there in [the prophet’s] house. ²⁰ But as they were sitting down at the table, the word of Jehovah came to the prophet who did the inviting, ²¹ so he said to the man of God who had come from Judah, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: Because you disobeyed the instructions of Jehovah and you didn’t do as you were commanded by Jehovah your God ²² (by returning to eat bread and drink water in this place where He told you not to eat any bread or drink any water), there’s no way that your body will be buried with your ancestors.’

²³ And that’s what happened. For, after he ate bread, drank water, and saddled his burro for the return, ²⁴ he was found along the road, killed by a lion. His body was just lying there in the road with the burro standing next to it, and there was the lion nearby. ²⁵ Well, when some men came along the road and found the body starting to decay, they pushed it off the road, and the lion returned to it.

Then they went back and reported the matter in the city where the elderly prophet lived. ²⁶ And when the prophet heard what had happened to the man of God along the road, he said, ‘This is what happens to those who rebel against the word of Jehovah. For, it was Jehovah who sent the lion… it attacked him and killed him, just as Jehovah foretold.’

²⁷ Then he spoke to his sons and said, ‘Saddle my burro for me!’

So they saddled it, ²⁸ and he went and found the body that had been tossed alongside the road… and the burro… and there was the lion standing by the body. However, the lion hadn’t eaten the body of the man of God, nor had it attacked his burro. ²⁹ So the prophet picked up the body, placed it on his burro, and carried it back to his city to bury him. ³⁰ Then he put the body in his own tomb, and [the people] beat their chests over him, saying, ‘Woe, O brother!’

³¹ And after beating their chests over him, the prophet said to his sons, ‘When I die, I want you to bury me in this tomb where we’ve put this man of God. Put me next to his bones, so that my bones will be preserved along with his bones. ³² For, Jehovah used him to speak against the altar in BethEl, and against the temples on the hilltops in Samaria.’

³³ However, what [the man of God] had said to JeroBoam didn’t turn him from his evil ways. For, he went and appointed any man who wanted the position to be a priest in the high places, and the posts were filled by anyone he chose. ³⁴ This was the sin that brought the house of JeroBoam ruin and extinction from the face of the earth.

Chapter 14

¹ Well, after some time, AbiJah (JeroBoam’s son) became ill. ² So, JeroBoam said to his wife: ‘Get up and make yourself up so people won’t recognize you as my wife, then go to Shiloh and look for AhiJah the Prophet, because he’s the one who first spoke to me about ruling over these people. ³ Carry along some bread for this man of God, and some small cakes for his children, as well as some raisins and a jar of honey. Go to him and have him tell you what will happen to our child.’

⁴ So, the wife of JeroBoam did as he said. She got up and went to Shiloh, and then she went to the house of AhiJah.

Now, the man was too old to see well, for because of his old age [he had developed cataracts]. ⁵ But Jehovah said to AhiJah, ‘Look, the wife of JeroBoam is coming to you to ask about her son, because he’s very ill, and this is what you should say to her…’

⁶ So, when she got there (although she couldn’t be recognized), AhiJah heard the sound of her feet coming up his entryway, and he said, ‘Come on in, you wife of JeroBoam. Why are coming as a stranger?’

Then he said, ‘I have a harsh message for you. ⁷ Return to JeroBoam and tell him that this is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said: I’m the one who elevated you from the midst of your people and appointed you over the people of Israel. ⁸ I tore the crown from the house of David and gave it to you. Yet, you haven’t become like My servant David, who kept My Commandments and followed after me with his whole heart, doing what was right in My eyes. ⁹ Rather, you’ve acted wickedly in everything that’s before you, and you’ve gone and made other gods and molded images to anger Me… you pushed Me aside!

¹⁰ ‘And because of this, {Look!} I’m bringing evil against the house of JeroBoam. I will destroy all those of JeroBoam who urinate against a wall… those who are now in Israel and those who are yet to come… they will be treated like manure! ¹¹ Those of JeroBoam who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and the flying creatures of the sky will eat those who die in the fields.

‘This is what Jehovah said. ¹² So now, get up and go back home! And as your feet are entering your city, your child will die. ¹³ Then [his body] will be put in a tomb and all Israel will mourn for him. For, he’s the only one of JeroBoam’s [children] who will be put in a tomb, because he’s the only one in the house of JeroBoam who [would have] said something good about Jehovah, the God of Israel.

¹⁴ ‘And today – in fact, NOW – Jehovah will raise a king for Himself over Israel who will cut down the house of JeroBoam. ¹⁵ For, Jehovah will strike Israel as someone stirs a reed in the water. He will pluck Israel from the good land that He gave their ancestors and toss them to the other side of the river, because of all the sacred poles they erected to anger Jehovah.’

¹⁶ And that’s how Jehovah showed His [dis]favor to Israel because of the sins of JeroBoam. For, he had not only sinned, he’d also led Israel into sin.

¹⁷ So, JeroBoam’s wife got up and returned to SariRa, and as she stepped onto the threshold of her house, her child died. ¹⁸ Then they buried [his body] in a tomb and all Israel mourned for him, just as Jehovah said they would through His servant AhiJah the Prophet.

¹⁹ Now, all the other things that JeroBoam did (the wars he fought and the things he said during his reign) are written about in the words of the scroll of the lives of the kings of Israel.

²⁰ JeroBoam reigned for twenty-two years, then he went to sleep with his ancestors, and his son NaDab started ruling in his place.

²¹ At the time, RehoBoam (the son of Solomon) was reigning over Judah. He was forty-one years old when he started his reign, and he ruled in Jerusalem (the city where Jehovah chose to put His Name for all the tribes of Israel) for seven years. His mother’s name was NaAma, and she was an Ammonite.

²² During this time, Judah was also acting wickedly before Jehovah, and they were making Him jealous by all the things they were doing, as did their ancestors when they sinned. ²³ The [people] were building high places [of worship] for themselves, and erecting monuments and sacred poles on every high hill and under every shade tree. ²⁴ They got together throughout the land and started doing all the disgusting things that the nations, which Jehovah had removed from before the sons of Israel, had been doing.

²⁵ So, in the fifth year of the reign of RehoBoam, the king of Egypt came against Jerusalem ²⁶ and took all the treasures of the Temple of Jehovah, and all the treasures of the king’s palace. He took the gold spears (which David took from the children of AdraZar, the king of Suba) and carried them [from] Jerusalem. He took everything! He even took the gold shields that Solomon had made, and carried them all to Egypt.

²⁷ Then King RehoBoam had some shields made of brass to replace [the gold shields], and they were set in place by the captains of his bodyguards (those who guarded the king’s palace). ²⁸ And one day, while the king was in the Temple of Jehovah, the bodyguards took them down and mounted them in their own barracks.

²⁹ All the rest of the things that RehoBoam said and did are written about in the scroll of the words and days of the kings of Judah. ³⁰ And during the entire time, there was war between RehoBoam and JeroBoam. ³¹ Then RehoBoam went to sleep with his ancestors, and they buried him in the tomb of his fathers, in the city of David. Then his son AbiJah started ruling in place of him.

Chapter 15

¹ And in the eighteenth year of the reign of JeroBoam (the son NaBat), AbiJah (the son of RehoBoam) started ruling over Judah. ² He reigned in Jerusalem for just three years. His mother’s name was MaAcha, and she was the daughter of AbSalom. ³ However, he followed in the sins that his father had committed before him, and his heart wasn’t perfect toward Jehovah his God, as was the heart of his grandfather David. ⁴ But because of David, Jehovah God gave him the right to establish his line as [the future kings] in Jerusalem. ⁵ This is because David did the right thing before Jehovah and didn’t turn away from all that he was told to do during his lifetime ⁶ (except in the matter of UriJah the Hittite). ⁷ And the rest of the things that AbiJah said and did {Look!} have been written about in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Judah.

Now, there was always a state of war between AbiJah and JeroBoam. ⁸ But then AbiJah went to sleep with his ancestors in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of JeroBoam, and he was buried in the tomb of his fathers in the city of David.

After him, his son Asa started ruling as king over Judah. ⁹ That was in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of JeroBoam, the king of Israel. ¹⁰ He then reigned in Jerusalem for forty-one years. The name of his mother Ana, and she was also a daughter of AbSalom.

¹¹ Now, Asa did what was right before Jehovah, as did his ancestor David. ¹² For he removed all the mystic rites from the land, and drove out all the bad practices that his fathers had established. ¹³ He also removed his mother Ana, after she held a meeting in her field of sacred poles, because she was trying to seize power. So, Asa cut off her retreat and burned [her followers] in a fire next to the Cedar (Kidron) Wadi. ¹⁴ And, although he failed to remove the high places of worship, the heart of Asa was perfect toward Jehovah all the days of his life. ¹⁵ For, Asa returned the huge columns of silver and gold to the Temple of Jehovah, as well as its silver and gold utensils.

¹⁶ And there was war between Asa and BaAsha (the king of Israel) for as long as they both lived. ¹⁷ BaAsha had attacked Judah and built Rama there to cut off Asa, the king of Judah. ¹⁸ But then Asa took all the silver and gold that he found in the treasury of the Temple of Jehovah and in the treasuries of the palace of the king, and entrusted them to his servants. Then King Asa had the treasures sent to BenHader, who was the son of TaberEma, the king of Syria, who lived in Damascus. ¹⁹ He said, ‘May there be a treaty between you and me, and between your father and my father. {Look!} I’ve sent you gifts of silver and gold. So now, come and end your treaty with BaAsha, the king of Israel, and drive him away from me!’

²⁰ Well, BenHader sent his officials and an army to King Asa, and they attacked Ain in Dan, AbelMa and the house of MaAcah, and all of ChenNereth into the land of NaphTali. ²¹ And when BaAsha heard of it, he stopped building Rama and returned to TirZah.

²² Then King Asa gave instructions to the army of Judah to make sure to tear down each and every stone of Rama, and all its building timbers. Then King Asa had it all taken to the hills of BenJamin, where he built a high fortification and a lookout post.

²³ All the rest of the words and deeds of Asa and his kingdom, and of the cities that he built {Look!} are written about in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Judah. However, in his old age he developed pain in his feet, ²⁴ and then Asa went to sleep with his ancestors and was buried in the tomb of his fathers in the city of David. Then his son JehoShaphat started ruling in place of him.

²⁵ Now, NaDab (the son of JeroBoam) had started ruling in Israel in the second year of Asa (the king of Judah). He only reigned in Israel for two years, ²⁶ for he also acted wickedly before Jehovah and he followed in the steps of his father, committing the same sins and leading Israel into sin. ²⁷ Then BaAsha (the son of AhiJah) laid siege against him [because of what he had done to] the house of BelaAn (the son of AhiJah), and he cut him down at the Philistine city of GabAthon… for Nabat and [the army of] Israel were then besieging GabAthon. ²⁸ So, BaAsha killed him in the third year of the reign of Asa (the son of AbiJah) the king of Judah, and then BaAsha became the ruler [of Israel].

²⁹ Well, during BaAsha’s reign, he killed the entire house of JeroBoam. He didn’t leave anyone alive, but killed them all, just as Jehovah had said through His servant AhiJah the Selonite ³⁰ (because of the sins of JeroBoam in leading Israel into sin, and provoking the anger of Jehovah, the God of Israel). ³¹ All the rest of the things that NaDab said and did {Look!} are written about in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.

³² Well, there was war between Asa and BaAsha (the king of Israel) for as long as they both lived. ³³ It was in the third year of the reign of Asa (the king of Judah) that BaAsha (the son of AhiJah) started ruling over Israel from TirZah. Then he reigned for twenty-four years, and he also acted wickedly before Jehovah, for he followed in the footsteps of JeroBoam (the son Nabat) by sinning and leading Israel into sin.

Chapter 16

¹ Then Jehovah sent word to BaAsha by Jehu (the son of AnaNi), saying, ² ‘Because I have raised you over the land and given you the lead over My people Israel, but you have chosen to follow in way of JeroBoam and led My people Israel into sin and provoked Me to anger with their foolishness, ³ {Look!} I’m arousing enemies against BaAsha and his house. So, I’m going to do to your house as I did to the house of JeroBoam (the son of Nabat)… ⁴ for when [the family] of BaAsha die in the city, dogs will eat them; and when they die in the fields, they will be eaten by the flying creatures of the sky.’

⁵ Well, the rest of the things that BaAsha said and did, and the areas of his conquests {Look!} have been written about in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Israel. ⁶ Then BaAsha went to sleep with his ancestors, and they buried him in a tomb in TirZah, and his son ElAh started reigning after him. ⁷ For, Jehovah had sent a proclamation against BaAsha and his house through Jehu (the son AnaNi), because of all the bad things he did before Jehovah. The things he was doing made Jehovah very angry, so BaAsha’s house would become like the house of JeroBoam, who he had slaughtered.

⁸ Well, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Asa (the king of Judah), after ElAh (BaAsa’s son) had been ruling over Israel for two years in TirZah, ⁹ ElAh’s servants got together with Zimri (the captain of half his cavalry) and plotted a takeover. And it was while he was in TirZah drinking and getting drunk in the house of Osa (the Mayor of TirZah), ¹⁰ that Zimri went in and stabbed him to death, and then he became the ruler [of Israel].

¹¹ Then after he took over, he killed the entire house of BaAsha… he didn’t leave anyone who could urinate against a wall alive, including his friends and relatives. ¹² So, Zimri wiped out the whole house of BaAsha, just as Jehovah had foretold through the Prophet Jehu. ¹³ He did this because of all the sins of BaAsha and his son ElAh, who had made Jehovah the God of Israel angry by leading Israel into sin with all his foolishness.

¹⁴ The rest of the things that ElAh said and did {Look!} have been written about in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.

¹⁵ Well, Zimri only ruled in TirZah for seven days. For at the time, the army of Israel was camped at the Philistine city of GabAthon. ¹⁶ And when the people in the camp heard how Zimri had rebelled and killed their king, they appointed Omri (the head of the army Israel) to be the king that day, there in the camp.

¹⁷ So, Omri ascended to the throne, and all Israel met with him at GabAthon, then they went and besieged TirZah.

¹⁸ Now, when Zimri realized that his city was lost, he went inside the king’s palace and set it on fire, burning it down around him, killing him. ¹⁹ This happened because of all the sins that Zimri had committed. For, he also acted wickedly before Jehovah, and followed in the ways of JeroBoam (the son of Nabat), committing the same sins and leading Israel into sin.

²⁰ The rest of the story of Zimri and of the people who supported him {Look!} has been written about in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.

²¹ Thereafter, there was a split in the people of Israel, for half of them started following TibNi (the son of GoNath), and they wanted him to be their king, but the other half followed Omri. ²² However, the people who followed Omri won out over the followers of TibNi. Then TibNi died, leaving his brother JoRam.

So, Omri was the only remaining ruler, ²³ and this happened in the thirty-first year of the reign of king Asa. Omri reigned over Israel for twelve years, six of which were from TirZah. ²⁴ Then he acquired Mount SemerOn from Semer (who owned the mountain) for a hundred-and-fifty pounds of silver. And there he built [his city], which he named Semer, after the man who had owned SemerOn.

²⁵ Well, Omri also acted wickedly before Jehovah. In fact, he was worse than all those who came before him. ²⁶ He followed in the ways of JeroBoam (the son of Nabat), and committed all his sins by leading Israel into foolishness and sin, which made Jehovah the God of Israel very angry.

²⁷ The rest of the things that Omri said and did, and the areas of his rulership {Look!} have been written about in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Israel. ²⁸ Then Omri went to sleep with his ancestors, and they buried him in a tomb in Samaria. So his son Ahab started ruling after him.

Now, in the eleventh year of the reign of Omri, ²⁸ JehoShaphat (the son of Asa) started ruling when he was thirty-five years old, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. ²⁹ And it was during the second year of the reign of JehoShaphat (the king of Judah) that Ahab (the son of Omri) started his rule. He reigned over Israel from Samaria for twenty-two years. ³⁰ And he also acted wickedly before Jehovah… even wickeder than all who had gone before him. ³¹ For, the sins of JeroBoam (the son of Nabat) weren’t bad enough for him.

Then he took a wife, JezeBel (the daughter of JetheBaal, the king of the Sidonians), and he went and started serving Baal, bowing before him. ³² He also erected an altar to Baal in the disgusting temple that he had built in Samaria. ³³ And Ahab also set up fields of sacred poles, doing everything he could to anger Jehovah the God of Israel, and to bring his own destruction. ³³ He was worse than all the kings of Israel who came before him.

³⁴ And it was during his reign that AchiEl the BethElite rebuilt Jericho, with the loss of his first-born son AbiRon, for laying its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son Segub, for erecting its gates, just as Jehovah had said through JoShua (the son of NaWeh).

Chapter 17

¹ Then the Prophet EliJah (the Tishbite from Tishbon of Gilead) went to Ahab and said: ‘As Jehovah the Almighty God – the God of Israel before whom I stand – lives, there won’t be any dew or rain in the land for years unless I call for it.’

² And then Jehovah told EliJah: ³ ‘Leave here and head east! Hide near the HorRath Wadi, where it empties into the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink your water from the wadi, and I’ll send crows to feed you there!’

⁵ So EliJah did what Jehovah said; he settled by the HorRath Wadi near the Jordan, ⁶ and crows brought him bread loaves in the morning and meat in the afternoon. Also, he drank water from the wadi. ⁷ However, before long, the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land. ⁸ So then, Jehovah told EliJah: ⁹ ‘Get up and go to the Sidonian [city of] SarEpta. {Look!} I’ve instructed a widow woman there to feed you.’

¹⁰ So, he got up and went to SarEpta, and as he neared the city gate, {Look!} he saw a widow woman collecting wood. Then EliJah called out to her and said, ‘Take a little water from your jar and give me something to drink!’

¹¹ However, she just started carrying [her wood] inside. Then EliJah shouted after her, ‘Hand me a little bit of your bread to eat!”

¹² And the woman said, ‘As Jehovah your God lives; what good is a cake that is baked in hot ashes? All I have is just a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. And look! Here I’ve collected two sticks, so I can go home and cook it for my children and myself… then we can eat it and die.’

¹³ But EliJah said, ‘Don’t get discouraged; just go on ahead and do what you said you’re going to do, but bake a small loaf and bring it to me first. Then afterward, you and your children may eat. ¹⁴ For, this is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said: The jar of flour will not fail, nor will the pitcher of olive oil, until the day comes which Jehovah has appointed for rain to fall upon the ground.’

¹⁵ So, the woman went and did as EliJah told her… she fed him first, and then she and her children ate. ¹⁶ And the jar of flour never became empty, nor did her pitcher of olive oil ever run low, just as Jehovah had told her through EliJah.

¹⁷ But then the son of the lady of the house became ill, and he kept getting worse until he finally stopped breathing. ¹⁸ And she asked EliJah, ‘What have I done to you, O man of God, that you should be reminded of all my sins and kill my son?’

¹⁹ And EliJah said to the woman, ‘Bring your son to me.’

So she picked him up and held him to her breast, then carried him to [EliJah’s] bed in an upstairs room and laid him there. ²⁰ Then EliJah yelled out and said, ‘O Jehovah; You’ve seen how this widow has treated me, so why have You brought evil to kill her son?’

²¹ Then he breathed into the boy’s [mouth] three times, and he called to Jehovah saying: ‘O my God; give the boy’s life back to him.’

²² And that’s what happened. Suddenly the boy shouted! ²³ Then he led him downstairs and gave him to his mother. And EliJah said, ‘See, your son is alive!’

²⁴ And the woman said to EliJah, ‘Now I know that you’re a man of God, and that the words of Jehovah that come from your mouth are true.’

Chapter 18

¹ After three years, Jehovah came to EliJah and said, ‘Go and speak to Ahab, for I’m going to allow rain to fall on the land again!’

² So, EliJah went to appear before Ahab. But by then there was a severe famine in Samaria.

³ However, Ahab called for AbDiu (his man in charge), who was extremely afraid of Jehovah. ⁴ For, when JezeBel had many of the Prophets of Jehovah killed, he gathered a hundred of them and hid them in two caves in groups of fifties; then he sent them food and water.

⁵ Anyhow, Ahab said to AbDiu, ‘Come, let’s travel throughout the land and search all the streams and springs to see if we can find a pasture with water to keep all the horses and mules alive, for they will die in their stalls!’

⁶ Then they parted company along the road, with Ahab going one way and AbDiu going the other way.

⁷ Well, AbDiu was by himself when EliJah reached him. And AbDiu ran and fell to his face and said, ‘Are you my master EliJah?

⁸ And EliJah said, ‘I am; so go tell your master that EliJah is here!’

⁹ Then AbDiu asked, ‘What has your servant done that you would hand me over to Ahab, for he would kill me! As Jehovah your God lives, there isn’t a nation or kingdom where my master hasn’t searched for you. ¹⁰ And when they said you weren’t there, he burned the kingdom and its cities when he couldn’t find you. ¹¹ So, now you just want me to go and tell my master that EliJah is here? ¹² What if, after I leave you, Jehovah sends a wind that picks you up and carries you into an unknown land? Then, if I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you here, he’ll kill me!

‘Now, your servant has feared Jehovah since his youth. ¹³ And perhaps you haven’t been told, my master, what I did when JezeBel killed the Prophets of Jehovah… I took a hundred of them and hid them in caves in groups of fifties. Then I fed them with bread loaves and water. ¹⁴ But now you tell me to just go and tell my master, {Look!} EliJah is here? He’ll kill me!’

¹⁵ And EliJah said, ‘As the Almighty Jehovah who stands before me lives, I’m going to appear before him today.’

¹⁶ So, AbDiu went to find Ahab, and reported to him. Then Ahab ran to meet with EliJah. ¹⁷ And when Ahab saw EliJah, he asked, ‘Are you finally going to [stop bothering] Israel?’

¹⁸ And EliJah said, ‘No, I’m not going to [stop bothering] Israel, for you and the house of your fathers have left Jehovah your God, and started following Baal Im. ¹⁹ So now, gather all Israel to Mount Carmel, and bring all the Prophets of Baal – all four hundred and fifty of them – and the Prophets of the sacred poles – all four hundred of them who eat at the table of JezeBel!’

²⁰ So, Ahab sent throughout all Israel to call the Prophets to Mount Carmel.

²¹ Then EliJah stood up in front of everyone and said, ‘How much longer are you going to be lame on both of your hams? If Jehovah is God, then follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!’

Well, no one said a word.

²² Then EliJah said, ‘I’m the only Prophet of Jehovah who is left. But here are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets of the sacred poles. ²³ So now, have them bring two oxen to us, then let them chose which one they want and cut it up and put it on the altar. Put some wood there, but don’t light the fire. Then I’ll do the same thing to the other ox, and I won’t light the fire. ²⁴ Then you can call to the names of your gods, and I will call upon the Name of Jehovah my God. And whichever one lights the fire truly is God.’

Well, all the people said, ‘What you’ve said is very good!’

²⁵ Then EliJah said to the prophets of shame: ‘Now, choose the calf you want and get it ready, because there are many of you. Then call on the name of your god to light the fire!’

²⁶ So, they took the calf and readied it for offering, and then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, ‘Listen to us, O Baal! Hear us!’ But there was no reply, because no one heard anything. Then they started running around the altar that they’d made.

²⁷ Well, by noon EliJah (the Tishbite) had started making fun of them. He said, ‘Keep shouting! Maybe he’s thinking about it… maybe he’s off handling some business… or maybe he’s sleeping and hasn’t gotten up yet.’

²⁸ Well, they kept shouting and cutting themselves with knives and spears (which was their custom), until they were all running with blood; ²⁹ they kept [acting like] prophets until midday. But after their sacrifice had stayed there until noon without any reply, ³⁰ EliJah said to the people, ‘Now come here to me!’ And all the people came to him.

Then he rebuilt an old altar that had been knocked down. ³¹ EliJah took twelve stones (which represented the tribes of Israel), just as Jehovah had told him, in this place where Jehovah had once told [Jacob], ‘Israel will be your Name.’ ³² For, these were the stones that [Jacob had] erected in the Name of Jehovah, and it’s the altar of Jehovah (that had been destroyed), which he rebuilt.

Then he built a moat around it that was deep enough to hold two sacks of seeds, and he put wood on the altar that he made. ³³ Then he cut up the whole burnt offering and put it on the wood… he piled it all on the altar, and said: ‘Now bring four jars of water and pour them over the offering and the wood!’

³⁴ Then he told them to do it a second time, and they did it again. And he said, ‘Now do it a third time!’ And they did it a third time. ³⁵ And then he filled the moat around the altar with water. ³⁶ And he yelled into the sky and said, ‘O Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; hear me today and send fire, so all these people will know that You are Jehovah the God of Israel, that I’m Your servant, and that the things I’m doing are Your works! ³⁷ Hear me, O Jehovah; send fire so these people will know that You are Jehovah God, and so that the hearts of these people will turn back to You!’

³⁸ Then Jehovah sent fire that fell from the sky, and it consumed the whole burnt offering, the wood, the water in the moat, the stones… and even the dirt around [the altar] was licked up by the fire. ³⁹ Then all the people fell to their faces and said, ‘Truly, Jehovah is God… The God!’

⁴⁰ And EliJah said to the people, ‘Now, seize all the prophets of Baal… don’t let any of them escape!’ So they grabbed them, and EliJah took them down to the Kishon Wadi and killed them all there.

⁴¹ Then Ahab headed back [home] to eat and drink; and EliJah ascended Mount Carmel, where he bowed to the ground with his face between his knees. ⁴² Then he said to his servant, ‘Climb the mountain and look toward the sea!’

⁴³ So his servant climbed the mountain and looked toward the sea, and he said, ‘I don’t see anything.’

And EliJah said, ‘Then, turn around seven times!’

⁴⁴ So the servant turned around seven times, and on the seventh time he said, ‘{Look!} A cloud that’s as small as the sole of a man’s foot arose from the water in the sea. And it said, Go to Ahab and say, Get your chariot ready and hurry away, so the rain doesn’t overtake you.’

⁴⁵ Well, suddenly the sky got dark with clouds, the wind started to blow, and a tremendous rainstorm started. However, as Ahab returned to JezreEl crying, ⁴⁶ the hand of Jehovah came over EliJah, so he wrapped up his waist, then he ran to JezreEl ahead of Ahab.

Chapter 19

¹ Then Ahab told his wife JezeBel (the one who had the Prophets killed with a sword) about everything that EliJah did, ² and JezeBel sent [a message] to EliJah. She said, ‘May the gods curse me and add to it if by this time tomorrow your life won’t be the same as the lives [of those Prophets I had killed].’

³ Well, this frightened EliJah, so he got up and ran for his life. And when he got to BeerSheba, he left his servant there ⁴ and traveled along the desert road for a day’s journey, and then [he spent the night] under a broom bush. That’s when he prayed for his life to end. He said, ‘It’s now fitting for You to take my life from me, O Jehovah, for I’m no better than my ancestors!’ ⁵ And thereafter, he bedded down and slept there under the plant.

Then {Look!} someone touched him and said, ‘Now get up and eat!’ ⁶ And he looked around and saw a loaf of oat bread that had been baked in ashes lying by his head, and a jar of water. So EliJah got up and ate and drank, then he went back to sleep.

⁷ But the messenger of Jehovah returned a second time and touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat! You’ll need this for your long journey.’

⁸ Then he got up and ate and drank again, and he gained enough strength from the food to last the whole trip of forty days and forty nights to the Dry Mountain (Horeb). ⁹ And when he got there, he went into a cave to rest. But then {Look!} Jehovah sent word to him. He asked, ‘Why are you here, EliJah?’

¹⁰ And EliJah replied, ‘Because of my zeal… because I’m zealous for Jehovah the Almighty. Yet, the sons of Israel have abandoned You… they’ve cut down Your Altars, and they’ve killed Your Prophets with swords… and now I’m the only one left and they’re looking [to kill] me!’

¹¹ Then he was told, ‘Go outside and stand on the mountain before Jehovah, and {Look!} Jehovah will pass by you in a strong wind that will split the mountain and break its rocks.’

[So, he went outside and stood] before Jehovah, and wind blew… but it wasn’t wind, it was Jehovah. Then after the wind blew, the ground also shook… but it wasn’t an earthquake, it was Jehovah. ¹² And after the earth shook, there was a fire… but it wasn’t fire, it was Jehovah. And after the fire, there was a sound that came from a soft breeze, which was Jehovah.

¹³ Then after EliJah heard this, he covered his face with his sheepskin and went back inside the cave. And {Look!} a voice again asked, ‘Why are you here, EliJah?’

¹⁴ And EliJah again replied, ‘Because of my zeal… because I’m zealous for Jehovah the Almighty. Yet, the sons of Israel have abandoned Your Sacred Agreement with them… they’ve demolished Your Altars, and they’ve killed Your Prophets with swords… and now I’m the only one left and they’re looking [to kill] me!’

¹⁵ Then Jehovah said to him, ‘Now, go on with your journey until you reach the desert road to Damascus, and then anoint HazaEl as the king of Syria. ¹⁶ Also, anoint Jehu (the son of NamesSi) as the king over Israel, and anoint EliSha (the son of Saphat from AbelMaoOla) to replace you as [My] Prophet. ¹⁷ Then, whoever is saved from the broadsword of HazaEl, will be killed by Jehu, and anyone who is saved from the broadsword of Jehu will be killed by EliSha.

¹⁸ ‘Now, there are still seven thousand men in Israel who haven’t bent their knees to Baal, and none of their mouths have spoken reverently of him.’

¹⁹ So thereafter, he went and found EliSha (the son of Saphat), who at the time was leading twelve teams of oxen that were pulling a plough. Then he went up to him and placed his sheepskin over him, ²⁰ and EliSha left his oxen and ran after EliJah. And he said: ‘Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, then I’ll follow you.’

But [EliJah] said to him, ‘Come on, for I’ve already done that for you!’

²¹ So, he went back and took the teams of oxen and sacrificed them, cooked them with the wood [of their yokes], and gave [the meat] to his people, which they ate. Then he got up and ran after EliJah, and started serving him.

Chapter 20

¹ Then BenHader (the king of Syria) gathered his whole army and went to lay siege against Samaria, and thirty-two [vassal] kings came with him with all their horses and chariots… they all came against Samaria to wage war against it. ² So he sent messengers into the city of Ahab (the king of Israel), who told him, ‘This is what BenHader says: ³ Your silver and your gold are all mine. Also, your wives, children, and your good things are all mine.’

⁴ And the king of Israel replied, ‘Just as you have said, O my master, O king; I and all that is mine are yours.’

⁵ Then BenHader sent his messengers again, and said: ‘I sent you the message telling you that you are to give your silver, gold, wives, and children to me. ⁶ So at this hour tomorrow, I will send my servants to you, and then they will search your palace and the homes of your servants and take anything that their eyes desire… whatever they put in their hands they will take.’

⁷ So the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, ‘I want you to know of all the evil that this man wants to do. For, although I’ve offered him all my silver, gold, wives, sons, and daughters, he’s now asking for [everything else].’

⁸ Well, the elders and all the people said, ‘Don’t listen to him; and don’t worry!’

⁹ So, he replied to the messengers of BenHader: ‘Tell your master that I will give him all that he asked for at first, but I won’t be able to do this thing that he’s asking.’

And his people carried that message back. ¹⁰ But BenHader said this: ‘May the gods curse me and add to it if the dirt of the foxes of Samaria and all its people is even good enough for the feet of my soldiers.’

¹¹ Then the king of Israel replied, ‘That’s enough! May the hunchback not boast as though he were able to stand erect!’

¹² Well, by the time this message reached [BenHader], he and all the other kings had been drinking inside his tent. And he said to his servants: ‘Then build a siege mound.’ And they erected a siege mound around the city.

¹³ Then {Look!} a Prophet came to Ahab (the king of Israel) and said, ‘This is what Jehovah says: Have you seen how large an army they have? Look! Today I’m giving them all into your hands, and then you will know that I am Jehovah!’

¹⁴ And Ahab asked, ‘Who will accomplish this?’

And he was told, ‘This is what Jehovah said: It will happen at the hands of the young princes of this region.’

And Ahab asked, ‘Then, who will join them in this war?’

And he was told, ‘You will!’

¹⁵ So Ahab counted the sons of the rulers of his realm and found out that there were two hundred-and-thirty of them. Then he counted his troops and found that there were seven thousand of them… all mighty men. ¹⁶ So he attacked at noon.

Well at the time, BenHader and the other kings (thirty-two of them) who were his allies, were in SucCoth, and they were all drunk. ¹⁷ Then, in the first wave, [Ahab] sent the young princes to attack.

Well, when BenHader (the king of Syria) received word that men were coming from Samaria, ¹⁸ he said: ‘Whether they’re coming in peace or for war, capture them alive…

¹⁹ But the young princes came toward the city with the army following them, ²⁰ and each one cut down the soldier who faced him. Then they did it again… each one cut down the soldier who came against him. So the Syrians turned and ran, and the Israelites chased after them. But BenHader (the king of Syria) grabbed a cavalryman’s horse and got away.

²¹ And after [the battle], the king of Israel went and took all their horses and chariots, which was a great calamity for Syria.

²² Then the Prophet went to the king of Israel and said: ‘Now, strengthen your forces and consider what you must do, for BenHader (the king of Syria) will attack you again this year!’

²³ Well, the servants of the king of Syria went to him and said, ‘The God of Israel is a God of mountains, not a God of valleys, and that’s why they beat us. However, if we go to war with them in the straight plains, we can overpower them. ²⁴ So, this is what you should do: Send all the kings home and appoint governors to replace them. ²⁵ Then we will replace the men who were killed, get more horses, build more chariots, and we’ll go back and fight them in the plains and overpower them.’

So the king listened to them and went along with their proposal. ²⁶ And near the end of the year, BenHader gathered an army in Syria and marched them toward Apheka, to war against Israel. ²⁷ And the sons of Israel gathered for war and went to meet them. Then, like two flocks of goats, Israel stood opposite them on the right, and Syria literally filled the land on the other side.

²⁸ Then the man of God went to the king of Israel and said, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: Because Syria says that Jehovah the God of Israel is a God of the mountains, not a God of the valleys, I’m going to give this huge army into your hands. Then you will know that I am Jehovah.’

²⁹ Well, they just sat there camped against each other for seven days. And on the seventh day, the war started, and Israel cut down the Syrians… a hundred-thousand foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ And all the rest retreated to the city of Apheka. Then the walls crumbled, killing twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men, and BenHader ran away and hid in a bedroom in the inner part of a house. ³¹ And he said to his servants: ‘I know that the kings of Israel are merciful. So, dress yourselves in sackcloth and wrap your heads with ropes, then go to the king of Israel and see if he will allow us to live.’

³² So, they wrapped sackcloth around their loins, and wrapped ropes around their heads, and went to the king of Israel and said, ‘Your servant BenHader says, Please allow me to keep my life’

And [the king] asked, ‘Is my brother still alive?’

³³ Then the men quickly got together and discussed what to say, and they replied, ‘Yes, BenHader your brother [is still alive].

And he said, ‘Well then, go get him.’

So, BenHader was brought [to the king] on a chariot. ³⁴ And he said, ‘I’m giving all the cities that my father took from your father back to you, and you may name the streets that my father built in Damascus after yourself, as my father did in Samaria.’

And [the king said], ‘If you’ll sign a treaty with me, I’ll send you home.’

So, they signed a treaty, and he was allowed to return home.

³⁵ Then a man who was one of the sons of the Prophets said to his neighbor (by [the inspiration] of Jehovah), ‘Strike me!’

But his neighbor wouldn’t knock him down, ³⁶ so he said to him: ‘Because you didn’t listen to the voice of Jehovah, {look!} after you leave me, a lion will strike you down!’ And after he left him, he found that a lion had indeed killed him.

³⁷ Then he went and found another man and said, ‘Strike me!’ But this man struck him and wounded him. ³⁸ Then the Prophet went to see the king of Israel, but on the way, he wrapped gauze around his eyes. ³⁹ And when he got to the king, he yelled to the king and said, ‘Your servant was in the army and went to war. Then {Look!} someone brought me a prisoner and told me to guard him. And if he got away, either my life would be required for his life, or I’d have to pay sixty-pounds of silver. ⁴⁰ Well, when I turned around the man was gone!’

And the king of Israel said to him: ‘{Look!} You were responsible for what you did, so you’ll have to pay.’

⁴¹ Then the man removed the gauze from over his eyes, and the king recognized him as one of the Prophets. ⁴² Then the Prophet said to him, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: Because you allowed a man who escaped from you to live, your life will be required for his life, and your people for his people.’

⁴³ Well, the king of Israel left dumbfounded and shaking, and he went back home to Samaria.

Chapter 21

¹ Then there came the matter of the vineyard of NabOth the JezreElite. His vineyard was located near the threshing floor of Ahab (the king of Samaria). ² And Ahab had spoken to NabOth and asked him to trade vinyards with him, because it was close to his palace, and he wanted it as a vegetable garden. He said, ‘I’ll give you another very-good vineyard for it; or if you prefer, we can discuss terms and I’ll buy if from you, because I need it for a vegetable garden.’

³ But NabOth replied: ‘No, I could never give it to you, because this is the inheritance that my God gave to my ancestors.’

⁴ Well, this matter bothered Ahab so much that he just went to bed, covered his face, and refused to eat. ⁵ So his wife JezeBel went to him and asked, ‘Why is your spirit so disturbed, and why are you refusing to eat?’

⁶ And he said, ‘I spoke to NabOth (the JezreElite) and asked him to sell me his vineyard… I offered to trade him another good one for it, but he said that he doesn’t want to give me the inheritance of his ancestors.’

⁷ Then his wife JezeBel said, ‘Aren’t you the king of Israel? Get up and eat, then start acting like yourself. I’ll give you the vineyard of NabOth the JezreElite!’

⁸ So, she wrote a letter and [forged] Ahab’s name to it, put his seal on it, and then sent it to the elders and free men who lived near NabOth. ⁹ In it, she wrote, ‘Declare a fast, and put NabOth in charge of the people!’

¹⁰ Then she assigned two sons of convicted criminals to work with him, who were to accuse him of blaspheming God and the king, and then take him out to be stoned to death. ¹¹ And that’s what happened. The men who lived in his city (the elders and free men to whom JezeBel sent the letter) ¹² called for a fast, and they appointed NabOth to be in charge. ¹³ Then the two men who were sons of convicts and who sat right across from him, accused him of blaspheming God and the king, and they led him out of the city to be stoned to death. ¹⁴ And thereafter, they sent a message to JezeBel that said, ‘NabOth has been stoned and now he’s dead.’

¹⁵ Then, when JezeBel got the message, she said to Ahab, ‘Now, get up and take the vineyard that NabOth (the JezreElite) refused to sell you, because NabOth is dead!’

¹⁶ So, when Ahab heard that NabOth had died, he went and claimed the field as his own inheritance.

¹⁷ Then Jehovah spoke to EliJah (the Tishbite) and said, ‘Get up and go to Samaria to meet with Ahab (the king of Israel). ¹⁸ {Look!} You’ll find him in the vineyard of NabOth, where he has gone to claim it as his own inheritance. ¹⁹ Speak to him and tell him that Jehovah has said: Because you had to murder someone to inherit this field, everywhere that the pigs and dogs licked the blood of NabOth, they will lick your blood. Why, prostitutes will bathe in your blood!’

²⁰ So, EliJah went to Ahab, and Ahab said to him, ‘O my enemy, I see that you’ve found me!’

²¹ And EliJah replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found you, because you’ve acted foolishly and sold yourself into wickedness before Jehovah. So, this is what He said: {Look!} I’m bringing all sorts of bad things upon you. I will destroy Ahab and burn away everything that comes after him… all those who urinate against a wall and all those who serve him that are still left in Israel. ²² Then I’ll make your house like that of JeroBoam, the son of Nabat, and as that of BaAsha’s son AhiJah, because of the ways that you have provoked Me to anger and led Israel into sin.’

²³ Then he told JezeBel, ‘Jehovah said this: Dogs will eat her [body] around the walls of JezreEl. ²⁴ Then those of [the house of] Ahab who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the fields will be eaten by the flying creatures of the sky. ²⁵ This is because Ahab acted so foolishly when he sold himself into wicked deeds before Jehovah through the perversions of his wife JezeBel. ²⁶ Why, his actions have been disgusting! He has worshiped the disgusting thing of the Amorites who Jehovah drove away from before the sons of Israel.’

²⁷ Well, after all these things were said, Ahab became very repentant before Jehovah… he started crying and ripping his clothes, then he tied sackcloth around his body and fasted. And he kept wearing the sackcloth from the day that NabOth the JezreElite was killed.

²⁸ Then Jehovah spoke to EliJah the Tishbite and said, ²⁹ ‘I see that Ahab is repentant, so I’m not going to bring the evil during his lifetime. However, I will bring it upon his son and his house.’

Chapter 22

¹ Thereafter, for the next three years, there was no more war between Israel and Syria. ² So in the third year, JehoShaphat (the king of Judah) came to visit the king of Israel. ³ Well, [at the time], the king of Israel had mentioned to his servants that RamOth Gilead belonged to them, and that they had neglected to take it back from Syria. ⁴ Then the king of Israel asked JehoShaphat, ‘Will you join us in our war for RamOth Gilead?’

⁵ And JehoShaphat said, ‘You and I, and your people and mine, are the same race; so my horses are your horses. But, why don’t you ask [Jehovah about this] today? You should definitely ask Him!’

⁶ So, the king of Israel gathered all the prophets (about four hundred of them), and the king asked them, ‘Should I go to war against RamOth Gilead, or should I wait?’

And their reply was, ‘Go, and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king!’

⁷ Then JehoShaphat asked the king of Israel, ‘Don’t you have any Prophets of Jehovah? We should use them to ask Jehovah about this matter.’

⁸ And the king of Israel said to JehoShaphat, ‘There’s still one man of Jehovah who we can ask, but I detest him, because he never tells me good things, just bad things. His name is MicaiJah (the son of JemBlaAh).’

So, JehoShaphat the king of Judah said, ‘Let him speak.’

⁹ Then the king of Israel called his primary eunuch and told him: ‘Quickly, bring MicaiJah (the son of JemBlaAh).’

¹⁰ And the king of Israel and JehoShaphat (the king of Judah) each sat down on their thrones, then all the prophets came and prophesied before them. ¹¹ Well, ZedekiJah (the son of HanaAn) made himself some horns of iron, and he said, ‘This is what the Lord says, With these you will gore the Syrians until you finish them off!’

¹² And all the prophets agreed, saying, ‘Go to war for RamOth Gilead and you’ll be blest, for he will hand the king of Syria over to you.’

¹³ Well, the messenger (the one who went to call MicaiJah) finally found him and said, ‘{Look!} All the prophets are telling the king good things, so you do the same thing!’

¹⁴ Well, MicaiJah replied, ‘As Jehovah lives, whatever He tells me is what I’ll say.’

¹⁵ But he went to the king, and the king asked, ‘Should I go to war for RamOth Gilead, or should I wait?’ And MicaiJah told him, ‘Go, and Jehovah will bless the hands of the king!’

¹⁶ But the king asked him, ‘How often do I have to make you promise to speak the truth to me in the Name of the Lord?’

¹⁷ And MicaiJah replied, ‘Well, [what I said] isn’t true, for I saw all Israel scattered in the mountains like a flock with no shepherd. Then the Lord asked, Isn’t Jehovah the God of these people? Then let them return to their homes in peace!’

¹⁸ Well then, the king of Israel turned to JehoShaphat and said, ‘Didn’t I tell you that this one would only prophecy bad things?’

¹⁹ And MicaiJah said, ‘That isn’t so! For, all I do is listen to the words of Jehovah… and isn’t that what I’ve done? I saw Jehovah the God of Israel sitting on His throne, and the whole army of the heavens standing around Him… on His right and on His left. ²⁰ Then Jehovah asked, Who will fool Ahab the king of Israel and make him go to war for RamOth Gilead? And one said this, and the other said that, ²¹ but then a spirit came and stood before Jehovah and said, I will deceive him!

²² ‘So Jehovah asked him: How will you do that?

‘And he replied, I’ll go and become a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.

‘And God said, You will surely deceive him. Go on and do it!

²³ ‘So now, {Look!} Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets, for Jehovah has foretold bad things for you.’

²⁴ And at that, ZedekiJah (the son HanaAn) came up to MicaiJah and hit him in the mouth, and asked, ‘So, what kind of spirit has Jehovah prophesied for you?’

²⁵ And MicaiJah said, ‘{Look!} You’ll know when you run to hide in the inner chamber of a storeroom!’

²⁶ Then the king of Israel said, ‘Take MicaiJah to AmMon (the mayor of the city) and to JehoAsh my son, ²⁷ and have him kept under guard. Don’t give him anything to eat but bread and water until I return in peace!’

²⁸ And MicaiJah said, ‘You won’t return in peace, for Jehovah told me: Listen all you people! ²⁹ The king of Israel [will go to war], and JehoShaphat (the king of Judah) will go with him.’

³⁰ Then the king of Israel said to JehoShaphat (the king of Judah), ‘Let me disguise myself in the battle… why don’t you put on my clothes?’

So, the king of Israel put on [JehoShaphat’s] clothes, and they went to battle.

³¹ Then the king of Syria told the thirty-two men that were in charge of his chariots: ‘Don’t attack the foot soldiers or the generals… catch the king of Israel by himself.’

³² So, when those who were in charge of the chariots saw the king of Judah [wearing the king of Israel’s clothes], they shouted, ‘That looks like the king of Israel!’

Then they circled him and prepared to attack him, but JehoShaphat shouted, ³³ and those in charge realized that it wasn’t the king of Israel, so they left him.

³⁴ Then a skilled bowman saw the king of Israel and shot him in the chest between his lungs. So he said to his chariot driver, ‘Turn around and take me away from the battle, because I’ve been hit.’

³⁵ Well, this turned the tide of the battle that day, and the king sat in his chariot across from the battle for the rest of the day, as blood poured all over the chariot. Then he died that evening.

Then, when the blood started running from the chariot toward the enemy camp, ³⁶ a messenger went throughout Israel’s camp after sundown shouting, ‘Everyone go back to his city and land, ³⁷ because the king is dead!’

So everyone returned to Samaria, and they buried the king in a tomb in Samaria. ³⁸ But as they were washing the blood off the chariot in the Spring of Samaria, pigs and dogs licked his blood, and prostitutes bathed in the bloody water, just as Jehovah had said.

³⁹ Now {Look!}, the rest of the things that Ahab said and did, and [the story] of the house of ivory that he built, and of all the cities he built have been written in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.

⁴⁰ So, Ahab slept with his ancestors, and his son AhaziJah started ruling after him.

⁴¹ Well, JehoShaphat (the son of Asa) had started reigning over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, the king of Israel. ⁴² He was thirty-five years old when he started ruling, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azuba, and she was the daughter of SalAi. ⁴³ He had followed in the path of his father Asa unswervingly, doing what was upright in the eyes of Jehovah. However, he never tore down the high places where the people burned incense and offered sacrifices. ⁴⁴ But he made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ The rest of the things that JehoShaphat said, and the area of his rulership, have been written about in the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Judah. ⁴⁶ But everything that was started or neglected during the reign of his father was removed from the land by Asa.

⁴⁷ At the time, there was no king reigning in Idumea. ⁴⁸ Then King JehoShaphat had a Tharsis-style ship made, to go to Ophir for gold. But it never got there, because it was wrecked at GeBer. ⁴⁹ Then king AhaziJah of Israel said to JehoShaphat: ‘I’ll send my servants in a ship for your servants.’ ⁵⁰ However, JehoShaphat didn’t want to do that.

⁵¹ Then JehoShaphat went to sleep with his ancestors, and they buried him in the tomb of his fathers in the city of David his ancestor. And after that, his son JehoRam started to rule.

⁵² Well, AhaziJah (Ahab’s son) started ruling Israel from Samaria in the seventeenth year of the reign of JehoShaphat, the king of Judah, but he ruled for just two years. ⁵³ This is because he acted wickedly before Jehovah and followed in the steps of his father Ahab, his mother JezeBel, and the house of the son of Nabat, who led Israel into sin… ⁵⁴ and because he served Baal Im, bowing before him. So, this angered Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Notes

Age, Eternal, Perpetual, Everlasting, Immortal, or Forever?

Two words imply infinite states in the Bible; one is the Greek word athanasia (undying), which is only found in two places, 1 Corinthians 15:53, where it mentions resurrected ones as clothing themselves with immortality, and at 1 Timothy 6:16, where Paul speaks of Jesus as having received it. The other Greek word is aidios, which is used at Romans 1:20 to describe God’s Power and Might as eternal, and at Jude 6 when speaking of the perpetual state of gloomy darkness that rebellious angels have been confined to.

However, the Greek word aionos (pronounced ai-on-oss), which is used throughout the Bible and is often translated as forever and everlasting, is what the English word eon is derived from. It means an indefinite period, and there is no exact English word to translate it. The best equivalents are age(s) or era(s).

Where the plural form of the word (aionion) is used, it refers to a long time… at least multiple generations. However, where the singular form is used (aionos), this appears to mean a much shorter period, such as a lifetime, generation, or era. And where the term ages of the ages is used (such as at Ephesians 3:21), which is usually said in reference to The God, we would assume that this truly means forever.

It is noteworthy that aionos is the word that is used in the Greek Septuagint in place of the Hebrew word ohlam, which is also translated as forever and time indefinite in popular versions of the Ancient Scriptures of Israel. So, this one word (aionos) is translated as forever, everlasting, eternal, system of things, time indefinite, [end of] the world, long ago, from of old, etc. Obviously, something is very wrong here, because the word can’t mean a period having a definite end in one place and infinity in another.

Take for example, the unique way that aionos is used in the question that Jesus’ Apostles asked him, which is found at Matthew 24:3: ‘Tell us; When will these things happen… what will be the signs when you are to arrive and this age will come to its conclusion?’ You can see that the word aionos obviously doesn’t mean forever, everlasting, or eternal in this case, nor did it mean world or system of things. It simply meant the age or, the time before the end would come. And for them, that meant the age when God’s Temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed, because that’s what Jesus had just told them.

The word aionos (which we have translated as age here) is also translated as world (KJ) and as system of things (NW) in other Bibles. However, if the Apostles had meant any of those words, they would have used the Greek word cosmos (world or system of things), not aionos.

The ancient Hebrews viewed everything (and rightly so) as having a beginning and an end. For that reason, you will only find three places in the Bible where words are used that imply no end, and none that imply no beginning. An interesting possible insight on the reason for this can be found at Hebrews 1:10-12, which says: ‘Long ago, O Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and your hands made the heavens. They will destroy themselves, but you will remain. They will grow old just like clothes do. Then, as [you would do to] a robe, you will wrap them up and repair them like clothes. Yes, you are the one, and your years will never expire.’

So, notice; The Bible shows that even our universe will eventually end and need to be ‘wrapped up and repaired,’ which agrees with the conclusions of modern science.

The problem with most Bible translations is that; when they encounter the word aionos in all its different tenses, they interpret it according to accepted doctrine, not according to the way that Jesus and his disciples used it. So, the common renderings forever, eternal, and everlasting are used even when the word is in its singular forms (aioni, aiona, aionos, aionion, aionian, aionios, aioniou), and this totally distorts the meaning of the text.

Take for example, the scripture at John 5:24, where Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth; He who hears what I say and believes in the One that sent me, will have life in this age… he won’t have to be judged, for he has crossed over from death to life!’

Most Bibles translate Jesus as saying that those who believe in the One who sent him will have everlasting life (or the equivalent). However, the words that Jesus used there were, zoe aionos (life age – singular), not zoe aionion (life ages – plural).

Notice how Jesus explained the meaning of these words with his next statement, ‘He won’t have to be judged, for has crossed over from death to life.’

So, what Jesus was saying here, wasn’t that they would have everlasting life, but that they in their current lifetime would be considered among the living, not among the dead (see Revelation 20:12).

This doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t live forever… it’s just that Jesus wasn’t really saying that. What we find (from consideration of the evidence found in the bulk of Jesus’ words about life) is that he never taught the hope of ‘life eternal,’ ‘everlasting life,’ or ‘immortality,’ in those specific words. However, the concept is still there. What he taught was that righteous people will receive ‘life in the age,’ or be considered worthy of (possibly everlasting) life by God during their current lifetimes… that their names would be written in ‘the scroll of life,’ and that they would not have to be judged, but will have already ‘crossed over from death to life,’ as Jesus said at John 5:24.

Yes, we know that this is a difficult concept to understand, but it’s what Jesus actually said.

For more information, select the linked documents, The Hereafter and Does the Bible Promise Everlasting Life?

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Hades: Hell or the Grave?

The Greek word Hades (they pronounced it hah-des) has been translated both as Hell (which is thought of as a place of torture) and as the Grave in other Bible versions (such as the King James). Since one word can’t mean two very different things, which translation is correct?

Hades (like the English word Hell) actually means the place of the dead. However, as pagan Greek philosophy started to develop and creep into Christianity, the later-day Greek view of Hades (a place of torture) was applied to it. Was this a correct application?

An insight into how the ancient Hebrews and the early Christians understood the word can be gained by looking at how it was applied in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (the ‘Old Testament’ Bible of Jesus’ day). There, the Hebrew word Sheol is translated into Greek as Hades in every instance; yet in each case, these are obvious references to the grave (the place of the dead), not to a place of conscious torture (see Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10).

Another revealing application of the word Hades is found at Revelation the 20:13. It says there, ‘The sea (gr. he thalassa) gave up its dead, death and the grave (gr. thanatos kai ho hades) gave up those dead in them, and they were all judged by the things that they did.’

So, notice that those who die at sea are differentiated from those who are buried in graves (Hades) and in other places (thanatos). Therefore, Hades is better translated as grave.

In the book of Job, another word that is used once in the Christian-era Scriptures and often translated as Hell, is found in two places. That Greek word is Tartarus, which refers to the place where evil gods or angels are sent. For more information, see the linked document, Is There a Burning Hell?

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Anointing

At Exodus 29:29 we find that Aaron and his sons were to be ‘anointed’ as Priests to Jehovah, and that this action would make them ‘holy’ or clean. It also signified that they had been chosen to this office by God. And in Leviticus, when we read of the ‘anointed’ Priest, the reference seems to be to one of the Priests who has been chosen for the special office of what later became known as the High Priest.

The Greek word that we have translated as anointed here, is chriseis, which can also be translated as Christ (it’s just a conjugation of Christos), since christ and anointed both come from the same root, which is Greek for olive oil (it may also mean Judged, since the words are similar). So, Jesus wasn’t the first or the only one to be correctly referred to as a christ.

Why olive oil? Because, that substance was traditionally poured over the heads of those whom God chose to be Priests and kings over Israel. However, at least in the case of Aaron and his sons, fragrant herbs were added to the oil to give it a pleasing odor. This is implied at Exodus 25:7, where the Israelites were asked to donate ‘fragrances for anointing oil.’ And we find the exact formula for the anointing oil at Exodus 30:34, where we read that it was to be made from ‘sixteen pounds of choice myrrh flowers, eight pounds of sweet-smelling cinnamon, eight pounds of sweet-smelling calamus, sixteen pounds of cassia (for the Holy Place), and a gallon of olive oil.’

The physical anointing with oil also appears to have pictured their receiving of God’s Holy Breath, making them ‘holy,’ which was an appropriate description for Jesus years later. And remember that both the ‘anointed’ priests and the kings pictured Jesus. So, the term christ is apropos.

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Bible Measurements

The most common unit for measuring length, height, and depth in the Bible is a cubit, which is the length of a man’s forearm. And of course, the lengths of forearms vary depending on the size of the person, so a cubit may be anywhere between eighteen and twenty-two inches. However, to give you a better idea of the size and proportions of things in the Bible, we have converted the units of measure to more familiar terms, such as feet and inches. And we have roughly averaged the sizes or lengths.

Also, some units of measure, such as a cor (about 32 bushels), hin, or bath (about 6 gallons), have been roughly estimated, since such terms are obsolete.

We have also dropped the obscure names of coins, since most readers have no idea of their value, and simply inserted the type of coin they are (gold, silver, or copper), and sometimes their size, to provide you some frame of reference.

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When Was the Foundation of the Temple Laid?

We find a very important deviation from the reading of the Hebrew text at 1 Kings 6:1, where the Greek text reads, ‘It was in the four hundred and fortieth year after the sons Israel left Egypt (in the fourth year and second month of Solomon’s reign over Israel) that the foundation of the Temple of Jehovah was laid.’ In Greek, the highlighted portion of this text reads, ‘και εγενηθη εν τω τεσσαρακοστω και τετρακοσιοστω ετει της εξοδου υιων ισραηλ εξ αιγυπτου,’ or, ‘and began in the fortieth and four-hundredth year of/the exodus sons of Israel from Egypt…’

What is different here? In the Hebrew text (and in most Bible translations based on that text) the foundation of the Temple was laid four-hundred and EIGHTY years after the exodus from Egypt. This is no minor deviation, nor would it have gone unnoticed by early translators. So, either the Greek text or the Hebrew text was deliberately changed sometime in the past 2,200 years, and we don’t know which is true, so we are open to any arguments.

Why is this a major deviation? Well, it throws Bible dating and chronology off by forty years if the Septuagint is correct.

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The ‘Chest of Proofs’ or ‘Ark of the Covenant?’

We are sorry to use such an unfamiliar term, but Ark of the Covenant may not accurately describe the sacred box that eventually held the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the writings of Moses and Joshua, the manna, and the walking stick of Aaron. First, the meaning of the ancient English word ‘ark’ has been lost in history. And the second word, ‘covenant’ (meaning, sacred agreement) isn’t always used as part of the name in the Greek text. In some places it is called the kiboton marturion, which literally means Box [of] Testimony. So, although it may have been built to illustrate the Sacred Agreement (Covenant) between God and the Israelites, it was also built to hold the Proofs of the things that God did for Israel. So, wherever the words kiboton marturion appear in the text, we have called it the Chest of Proofs. But it was also referred to as the Chest of the Sacred Agreement (or, Ark of the Covenant) at Exodus 27:21, for example, so that term must also be correct. However, after the Israelites settled in the Promised Land it was always referred to as the kiboton marturion, or the Chest of Proofs.

Unfortunately (during the time of Samuel and the High-Priest Eli), the Philistines captured the Chest, emptied its contents, and then returned it to Israel empty, because, their having it brought a plague on them (see 1 Samuel 6:12). However, later, during the time of King Solomon, the sacred tablets containing the Ten Commandments were found to be still in the Chest, but nothing else (see 1 Kings 8:9); so we have to assume that they had been found and returned.

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Psyche

The Greek word psyche (as in psychology) has been translated many ways, including soul, life, etc. However, psyche actually means something that breathes. It is used in the Bible to describe both breathing animals and breathing humans. So by definition, a soul cannot leave the body, because a soul is what the living body (whether human or animal) is (see Genesis 2:7).

In ancient Greece, philosophers eventually added another meaning to psyche: The inner person (as opposed to the person that others see and come to know). And with time, the pagan religion of Greece started to teach that this inner person is its own entity and can never die (is immortal). Over the centuries, this pagan Greek doctrine thereafter crept into the Christian religions. Please see the link Soul for more history of the word.

However, such Greek philosophical thought never influenced Jesus and his Apostles. So, they consistently used psyche to indicate a living person or animal. Therefore, the later teaching that the soul is immortal stands in direct conflict with Jesus’ promise of a resurrection, because, if a person is immortal (can never die) he/she can never be resurrected (brought back to life).

In addition, the teaching of the immortality of the human soul is totally without support from the Bible. For the word immortal(ity) (Gr: athanasia or undying) is only mentioned in the Bible in two places, and it isn’t used with or applied to the word soul in either case. Both of these scriptures show that immortality is only given by God as a reward for righteousness. And as Ezekiel 18:4 says, ‘The person (gr. psyche or ‘soul’) that is sinning will die (gr. apothaneitai).’

Of course, there are places in the Bible where the word soul means more than just a living, fleshly body. For example, God is recorded to have spoken of ‘My Soul’ in several places. Obviously, God is much more than just a ‘soul’ as most people think of that term, and He surely wasn’t talking about His having a human body. So we must conclude that what He was referring to is His life.

Then there are Jesus’ words found at Matthew 10:28, which read, ‘Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the person (psyche or soul). Rather, be afraid of him who can destroy both the person (soul) and the body in the garbage dump.’ Here, Jesus is using the word psyche (soul) to refer to the value of life that remains with God until the resurrection. And he obviously isn’t referring the soul as immortal in this instance, because he says God will destroy (gr. apolesai) the [unrighteous] soul or person.

Unfortunately, no single word can be used to translate psyche in every possible Bible application, so various terms are used herein, depending on the circumstances, but always in an attempt to harmonize with the meaning.

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Breath

The Greek word pneuma (as in pneumonia, a breathing disease) means breath or wind – the movement of air. In other Bible translations, this word is often translated as spirit or ghost, as in Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. However, spirit is just a shortened form of the Latin word spiritu, which just means breath in Latin. And ghost conveys another meaning altogether.

The most common use of the word pneuma in the Bible is to imply an unseen force (such as breath or wind). And the problem with translating it as spirit or ghost is that many people have started believing that the unseen force that is called [God’s] Holy Breath herein, is another God-like person and part of a Divine ‘Trinity.’ This can’t be true, because the only scripture that can be used to support this theory (that is, where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Breath’ are spoken of together) is found at Matthew 28:19, which appears to be spurious (See the Note in Matthew). All other scriptures that are used to prove the Trinity theory fail to mention the Holy Breath as part of that group. And the King James wording of 1 John 5:7 (which was used for years to attempt to prove the Trinity) is also spurious (something that was added to the Bible). So, there are no actual Bible references that mention God’s Holy Breath along with the Father and the Son.

Therefore, to prevent confusion, the Greek word pneuma is frequently translated as breath herein. However, there are exceptions, as in instances where the Bible refers to demons as ‘spirits.’ Translating pneuma as breath in these cases, although correct, might just be confusing. There are also places where we have left pneuma translated as spirit, when the word implies a person's tendency (or spirit). And, since the nuance implied by the word spirit in the English language (an unseen power) is correct, we recently changed back to translating pneuma as spirit in several places, when referring to God’s Holy Spirit. However, recognize that pneuma is often best defined by calling it [God’s] Holy Breath. For an example, see the Note Worshiping God In Spirit and Truth.

Another important use of the word pneuma is in the phrase, ‘Breath of Life.’ This phrase appears to mean more than just breathing, for it seems to refer to the entire mechanics of life itself. It’s the unseen force of life for all creatures… it’s what makes each cell alive. However, nowhere does the Bible describe the ‘pneuma’ as immortal, nor is it the same as the soul (a breathing thing), so it can (figuratively) ‘return to God’ at death,’ because all hope of future life depends on God and His promise of a resurrection.

Note in particular how the term Breath is used at Job 27:3, where Job spoke of God’s Breath or Spirit. For there he asked, ‘Does the Breath of the Divine One remain in my nose?’ As you can see from his application of this word, pneuma obviously referred to God’s Breath, not to a person or to an unseen force. He was talking about that which comes from God and which caused him (Job) to breathe… the Breath of Life.

It is interesting that at Genesis 6:3 God says, ‘I won’t allow My Breath to stay with these men through the age, for they are fleshly.’ In Greek that reads, ‘Ou me katameine to pneuma mou en tois anthropois toutoiseis ton aiona, dia ai einai autous sarka,’ or, ‘Not not should stay the Breath Mine with these men the age through, their being flesh.’

While the words Breath Mine (pneuma mou) here can refer to God’s Holy Breath, it seems more likely that He is referring to the breath of life that He gave to Adam. So it appears as though; what God was saying here is that the breath of life (of the people of that age) would be removed prematurely. However, since God referred to it as ‘My Breath,’ there may be a link implied between God’s Holy Breath and the breath of life.
For more information, see the linked document, ‘The Powers of God’s Holy Spirit.’

However, when Jesus died (as the words recorded at John 19:30 say), ‘he hung his head and gave up the breath’ (gr. kai klinas ten kephalen paredoken to pneuma, or, and inclined his head giving/up the breath). In this case, the obvious reference is to ‘the breath of life,’ or that force which gave him life as a human.

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Why Capitals in Bible Names?

You have likely noticed that we are putting some of the letters in Bible names in capital letters. For example, we’ve started spelling such names as Jonathan as JoNathan, Isaiah as IsaiJah, and Eliezer as EliEzer. Why? Well, partly to help with the correct pronunciations of the names, and partly to show some translating consistency.

We all know that the common English pronunciation of Jonathan (for example) is Jon-uh-thun. But did you know that the first part of the name (Io in Greek, Ieho in Hebrew) refers to the name Jehovah, and the second part of the Name (Nathan) means Gift? So, the name was originally pronounced closer to Ye-hoh-nuh-thahn.

In the case of names that end with an iah, as in Isaiah, the last part of the name often includes the name of God. Isaiah, for example, means Salvation [of] Jehovah, and it was originally pronounced Ee-sai-Yah. So, why have we substituted a capital ‘J’ for the letters ‘ie’ in both of the above cases? Well, we recognize that there is an inconsistency here, because there was no letter ‘J’ in Hebrew or Greek alphabets. However, we have the choice of changing all names that start with ‘J’ (such as Jesus, John, Jonah, Joshua, Jeremiah, etc.) to start with the letters ‘Ie’, or for consistency, we can change all the ‘Ies’ into ‘Js’, which is what we have done. Realize that several other Hebrew consonants are commonly mispronounced in English, which no one objects to, so this minor deviation should not be objectionable to the thinking.

Does this mean then that we are setting out a new rule for name spelling? Absolutely not, for centuries ago, a Bible translator first established this rule when he spelled the name Eliou (Greek spelling, pronounced ay-lee-ou) and wrote it as EliJah, because this name is regarded as meaning ‘My God is Jehovah.’

Also notice that where a name ends with an iah, as in Jeremiah (Jehovah exalts), we have often spelled it as iJah, because the I would typically be pronounced as a long E, followed by a Y in Hebrew, and writing it without the I (as in JeremJah) misses this nuance. So, we have rendered it as JeremiJah, which is similar to the way it is often pronounced by modern-day Hebrew-speaking Jews, YeremiYah.

Another important word in names that we usually capitalize is ‘El’ (from the Hebrew Elohe, or God). So EliEzer (which people commonly pronounce Eelai-eezer and means God [has] Helped) should actually be pronounced El-ee-eh-zer. The same is true for the letters Ai, especially in the names of cities, because Ai in Hebrew refers to the word city. So, AiLam (for example) probably meant the City of Lam.

Similar words, such as Bel (as in BelShazzar), Baal, and Beel, refer to ‘the Lord’ or ‘the God.’ Also, the prefixes ‘Ben’ and ‘Bar’ mean ‘the son of.’ ‘Beth’ means ‘the house of,’ ‘Beer’ refers to a ‘well,’ ‘Is’ or ‘Ish’ means ‘Man,’ etc.

Does this mean that we have put all the capitals in the right places? No, for we make no claim to Hebrew scholarship (all our translating here has been from Greek). So, what we are trying to do is provide a better understanding to how these names were pronounced by First-Century Christians.

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Zeal

At Psalm 37:8 we read, ‘Stop being angry and abandon your rage. Don’t allow zeal to make you act wicked’ (yes, we know, the word should be wickedly, but this is poetic license). However, those words could also be translated as, ‘Do not allow jealously to cause you to act wickedly,’ because the Greek word zelos can either be translated as zealous or as jealous, depending on the circumstances, for both words mean the same thing. Yet, the two words imply different things in English.

Zeal is usually thought of as something good… something that all Christians should have, as in zeal for God and righteousness. And jealously is thought of as something bad… as wanting something that belongs to someone else. Yet, God may be spoken of as being jealous over His Name and His position as God, so jealously isn’t always a bad thing. And we can have zeal for things that are ours and we are proud of (which is not bad), and be jealous of things that belong to others (which is bad). So, the same Greek word (zelos) may be correctly translated as zeal in one place, and as jealously in another, depending on the context.

Then, is it proper for a man to be jealous of his wife, or for a wife to be jealous of her husband? No, we should never be jealous of each other, but for each other. We shouldn’t want what the other has, but we should have a burning zeal for each other. So, if one has good reason to worry about losing the love of the other, that is zeal. However, if such concern is baseless, that is wicked suspicion, not jealously.

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