Reading 103/341, 2 Kings 4.12-6.33

...2 Kings...

He said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. When he had called her, she stood before him. He said to him, Say now to her, Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for you? would you be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army? She answered, I dwell among my own people. He said, What then is to be done for her? Gehazi answered, Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old. He said, Call her. When he had called her, she stood in the door. He said, At this season, when the time comes round, you shall embrace a son. She said, No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your handmaid. The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season, when the time came round, as Elisha had said to her. When the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. He said to his father, My head, my head. He said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. When he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door on him, and went out. She called to her husband, and said, Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. He said, Why will you go to him today? it is nor new moon nor Sabbath. She said, It shall be well. Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; do not slacken me the riding, except I bid you. So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. It happened, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is the Shunammite, please run now to meet her, and ask her, Is it well with you? is it well with your husband? is it well with the child? She answered, It is well. When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is vexed within her, and the Lord has hid it from me, and has not told me. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Did not I say, Do not deceive me? Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up your waist, and take my staff in your hand, and go your way, if you meet any man, Do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him again, and lay my staff on the face of the child. The mother of the child said, As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. He arose, and followed her. Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was nor voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child has not awakened. When Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid on his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to the Lord. He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, and he stretched himself on him, and the flesh of the child grew warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up, and stretched himself on him, and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. He called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. When she was come in to him, he said, Take up your son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and she took up her son, and went out. Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a dearth in the land, and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets. One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of stew; for they did not recognize them. So they poured out for the men to eat. It happened, as they were eating of the stew, that they cried out, and said, man of God, there is death in the pot. They could not eat of it. But he said, Then bring meal. He cast it into the pot, and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. There was no harm in the pot. There came a man from Baal Shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, Give to the people, that they may eat. His servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave of it. So he set it before them, and they ate, and left of it, according to the word of the Lord. Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria, he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden, and she waited on Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! then would he recover him of his leprosy. One went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maiden who is of the land of Israel. The king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may recover him of his leprosy. It happened, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he tore his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send to me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me. It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean. But Naaman was angry, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. His servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid you do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? how much rather then, when he says to you, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him, and he said, See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel, now therefore, please take a present from your servant. But he said, As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. He urged him to take it; but he refused. Naaman said, If not, yet, please let there be given to your servant two mules' burden of earth; for your servant will henceforth offer nor burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. In this thing the Lord pardon your servant, when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this thing. He said to him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands what he brought, as the Lord lives, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he alighted from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? He said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, now there are come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; please give them a talent of silver, and two changes of clothing. Naaman said, Be pleased to take two talents. He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants, and they bore them before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house, and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, Whence come you, Gehazi? He said, Your servant went no where. He said to him, Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave to you, and to your seed forever. He went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, See now, the place where we dwell before you is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray you, to the Jordan, and take there every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. He answered, Go you. One said, Be pleased, I pray you, to go with your servants. He answered, I will go. So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water, and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, "Take it." So he put out his hand and took it. Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel, and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you not pass such a place; for there the Syrians are coming down. The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and he saved himself there, not once nor twice. The heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing, and he called his servants, and said to them, Will not you show me which of us is for the king of Israel? One of his servants said, No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. He said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him. It was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he there horses, and chariots, and a great army, and they came by night, and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an army with horses and chariots was round about the city. His servant said to him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? He answered, Do not be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Elisha prayed, and said, the Lord, Please open his eyes, that he may see. The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, Please smite this people with blindness. He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Elisha said to them, This is not the way, nor is this the city, follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. He led them to Samaria. It happened, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, the Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I strike them? shall I strike them? He answered, You shall not strike them, would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. He prepared great provision for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. It happened after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up, and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria, and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, there cried a woman to him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. He said, If the Lord does not help you, whence shall I help you? out of the threshing floor, or out of the winepress? The king said to her, What ails you? She answered, This woman said to me, Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and ate him, and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him, and she has hid her son. It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall), and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within on his flesh. Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him, and the king sent a man from before him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See you how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him, is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? While he was yet talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him, and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?

Reading 102/341, 2 Kings 1-4.11

2 Kings...

Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick, and he sent messengers, and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this sickness. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and tell them, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely die. Elijah departed. The messengers returned to him, and he said to them, Why is it that you have returned? They said to him, There came up a man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king who sent you, and tell him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely die. He said to them, What manner of man was he who came up to meet you, and told you these words? They answered him, He was a hairy man, and girt with a belt of leather about his waist. He said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He spoke to him, man of God, the king has said, Come down. Elijah answered to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty. Fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty. Again he sent to him another captain of fifty and his fifty. He answered him, man of God, thus has the king said, Come down quickly. Elijah answered them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty. The fire of God came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty. Again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty your servants, be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from the sky, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight. The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, Go down with him, do not be afraid of him. He arose, and went down with him to the king. He said to him, Thus says the Lord, Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely die. So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? It happened, when the Lord would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, Please wait here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel. Elisha said, As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from your head today?" He said, "Yes, I know it; hold your peace." Elijah said to him, Elisha, please wait here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. He said, As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from your head today?" He answered, "Yes, I know it. Hold your peace." Elijah said to him, "Please wait here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan." He said, "As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." They two went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood over against them afar off, and they two stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they two went over on dry ground. It happened, when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you. Elisha said, please let a double portion of your spirit be on me. He said, You have asked a hard thing, nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so to you; but if not, it shall not be so. It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both apart, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen of it! He saw him no more, and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? and when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there, and Elisha went over. When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah does rest on Elisha. They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. They said to him, See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray you, and seek your master, lest the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up, and cast him on some mountain, or into some valley. He said, You shall not send. When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men, and they sought three days, but did not find him. They came back to him, while he stayed at Jericho, and he said to them, "Did not I tell you, 'Do not go?'" The men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, we pray you, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land miscarries. He said, Bring me a new jar, and put salt therein. They brought it to him. He went forth to the spring of the waters, and cast salt therein, and said, Thus says the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from there any more death or miscarrying. So the waters were healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. He went up from there to Bethel, and as he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you baldy; go up, you baldhead. He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Two female bears came out of the woods, and mauled forty-two of those youths. He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria. Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he cleaved to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it. Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he rendered to the king of Israel the wool of one hundred thousand lambs, and of one hundred thousand rams. But it happened, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. He went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me, will you go with me against Moab to battle? He said, I will go up, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. He said, Which way shall we go up? He answered, The way of the desert of Edom. So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of seven days' journey, and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. The king of Israel said, Alas! for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. But Jehoshaphat said, Is not there here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him? One of the king of Israel's servants answered, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? get you to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother. The king of Israel said to him, No; for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. Elisha said, As the Lord of Armies lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. But now bring me a minstrel. It happened, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came on him. He said, Thus says the Lord, Make this valley full of trenches. For thus says the Lord, You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, and you shall drink, both you and your livestock and your animals. This is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord, he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. It happened in the morning, about the time of offering the offering, that behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood on the border. They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water over against them as red as blood, and they said, This is blood; the kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each man his fellow, now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them, and they went forward into the land smiting the Moabites. They beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it, and they stopped all the springs of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth only they left the stones of it; however the men armed with slings went about it, and struck it. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel, and they departed from him, and returned to their own land. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant did fear the Lord, and the creditor is come to take to him my two children to be bondservants. Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? tell me; what have you in the house? She said, Your handmaid has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow you vessels abroad of all your neighbors, empty vessels; borrow not a few. You shall go in, and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour out into all those vessels, and you shall set aside what is full. So she went from him, and shut the door on her and on her sons; they brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. It happened, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me yet a vessel. He said to her, There is not another vessel. The oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. He said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, and live you and your sons of the rest. It fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread. She said to her husband, See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passes by us continually. Let us make, Please, a little chamber on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lamp stand, and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there. It fell on a day, that he came there, and he turned into the chamber and lay there.

Reading 101/341, 1 Kings 21-22

...1 Kings

It happened after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, nearby the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my house, and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it, or, if it seem good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money. Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you. Ahab came into his house sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. He laid him down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread? He said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it, and he answered, I will not give you my vineyard. Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry, I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, and who lived with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people, and set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, You did curse God and the king. Then carry him out, and stone him to death. The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, according as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him, and the base fellows bore witness against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did curse God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. It happened, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead. It happened, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria, behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he is gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord, Have you killed and also taken possession? You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, yours. Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, my enemy? He answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin. Of Jezebel also spoke the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel. Him who dies of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat, and him who dies in the field shall the birds of the sky eat. (But there was none like Ahab, who did sell himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. He did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.) It happened, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, See you how Ahab humbles himself before me? because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but in his son's days will I bring the evil on his house. They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. It happened in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. The king of Israel said to his servants, "You know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we are still, and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?" He said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead? Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Please inquire first for the word of the Lord. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? They said, Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. But Jehoshaphat said, Is not there here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we may inquire of him? The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Jehoshaphat said, "Do not let the king say so." Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Get quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus says the Lord, With these shall you push the Syrians, until they be consumed. All the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead, and prosper; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, See now, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth, please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak you good. Micaiah said, As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that will I speak. When he was come to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? He answered him, Go up and prosper, and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. The king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord? He said, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd, and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did not I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. The Lord said, 'Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?' One said on this manner, and another said on that manner. There came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, 'I will entice him.' the Lord said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You shall entice him, and shall prevail also, go forth, and do so.' Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you." Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to you? Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself. The king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son, and say, Thus says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace. Micaiah said, If you return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me. He said, Hear, you peoples, all of you. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but put you on your robes. The king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight nor with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel, and they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. A certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor, therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the army; for I am severely wounded. The battle increased that day, and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at , and the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. There went a cry throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his country. So the king died, and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the prostitutes washed themselves there); according to the word of the Lord which he spoke. Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in all the way of Asa his father; He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord, however the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shown, and how he warred, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? The remnant of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land. There was no king in Edom, a deputy was king. Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go; for the ships were broken at Ezion Geber. Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not. Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; Jehoram his son reigned in his place. Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in which he made Israel to sin. He served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked to anger the Lord, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

Reading 100/341, 1 Kings 18.41-20.43

...1 Kings...

Elijah said to Ahab, Get you up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put his face between his knees. He said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. He went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. He said, Go again seven times. It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea." He said, Go up, tell Ahab, Make ready your chariot, and get you down, that the rain not stop you. It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel, and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his waist, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel send a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. When he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the desert, and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O the Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. He lay down and slept under a juniper tree, and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, Arise and eat. He looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on the coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drink, and laid him down again. The angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you. He arose, and ate and drink, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the Mount of God. He came there to a cave, and lodged there, and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword, and I, I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away. He said, Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a still small voice. It was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, there came a voice to him, and said, What are you doing here, Elijah? He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword, and I, I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away. The Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the desert of Damascus, and when you come, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu the son of Nimshi shall you anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah shall you anoint to be prophet in your room. It shall happen, that he who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu kill, and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha kill. Yet will I leave me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him. So he departed there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth, and Elijah passed over to him, and cast his mantle on him. He left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray you, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. He said to him, Go back again; for what have I done to you? He returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered to him. Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together, and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots, and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben Hadad, Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children, the best, are mine. The king of Israel answered, It is according to your saying, my lord, O king; I am yours, and all that I have. The messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben Hadad, saying, I sent indeed to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children; but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants, and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Please notice how this man seeks mischief, for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I did not deny him. All the elders and all the people said to him, Do not you listen, nor consent. Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you did send for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I may not do. The messengers departed, and brought him word again. Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me. The king of Israel answered, Tell him, Do not let him who girds on his armor boast himself as he who puts it off. It happened, when Ben Hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves in array. They set themselves in array against the city. Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Ahab said, By whom? He said, Thus says the Lord, By the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? He answered, You. Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two, and after them he mustered all the people, all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. They went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him. The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first, and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria. He said, Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they are come out for war, taken them alive. So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them. They killed everyone his man, and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, and Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. The king of Israel went out, and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter. The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you. The servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we, but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. Do this thing, take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their room, and number you an army, like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. He listened to their voice, and did so. It happened at the return of the year, that Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. The children of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them, and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, the Lord is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord. They encamped one over against the other seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined, and the children of Israel killed of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. His servants said to him, See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings, let us, we pray you, put sackcloth on our bodies, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel, peradventure he will save your life. So they girded sackcloth on their bodies, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Your servant Ben Hadad says, please let me live. He said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to catch whether it were his mind, and they said, Your brother Ben Hadad. Then he said, Go you, bring him. Then Ben Hadad came forth to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot. Ben Hadad said to him, The cities which my father took from your father I will restore, and you shall make streets for you in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. I, said Ahab, will let you go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go. A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the word of the Lord, Please strike me. The man refused to strike him. Then said he to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you. As soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and killed him. Then he found another man, and said, Please strike me. The man struck him, smiting and wounding him. So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. As the king passed by, he cried to the king, and he said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me, and said, Keep this man, if by any means he be missing, then shall your life be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver. As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be; yourself have decided it. He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes, and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. He said to him, Thus says the Lord, Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people. The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.

Reading 99/341, 1 Kings 16-18.40

...1 Kings...

The word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, Because I exalted you out of the dust, and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Him who dies of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat, and him who dies of his in the field shall the birds of the sky eat. Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. Moreover by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck him. In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years. His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, and Zimri went in and struck him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. It happened, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he struck all the house of Baasha, he did not leave him a single one who urinates on a wall, nor of his kin, nor of his friends. Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and with which they made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities. Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. The people who were encamped heard say, Zimri has conspired, and has also struck the king, therefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. It happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the castle of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, for his sins which he sinned in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he did, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts, half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. But the people who followed Omri prevailed against the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath, so Tibni died, and Omri reigned. In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, and reigned twelve years, six years reigned he in Tirzah. He bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria. Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and dealt wickedly above all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins with which he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities. Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he shown, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place. In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. Ahab the son of Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. It happened, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. He reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. Ahab made the Asherah, and Ahab did yet more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho, he laid the foundation of it with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates of it with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun. Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the immigrants of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. The word of the Lord came to him, saying, Get you hence, and turn you eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. It shall be, that you shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook. It happened after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. The word of the Lord came to him, saying, Arise, get you to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there, behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you. So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks, and he called to her, and said, Please get me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. As she was going to get it, he called to her, and said, Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand. She said, As the Lord your God lives, I do not have a cake, but a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the jar, and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. Elijah said to her, Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but make me of it a little cake first, and bring it forth to me, and afterward make for you and for your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, The jar of meal shall not empty, nor shall the jar of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth. She went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she, and he, and her house, ate many days. The jar of meal did not empty, nor did the jar of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elijah. It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. She said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, you man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my son! He said to her, Give me your son. He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the chamber, where he abode, and laid him on his own bed. He cried to the Lord, and said, the Lord my God, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son? He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said, the Lord my God, please let this child's soul come into him again. The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother, and Elijah said, Behold, your son lives. The woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth. It happened after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth. Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was sore in Samaria. Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the springs of water, and to all the brooks, peradventure we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose all the animals. So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it, Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it you, my lord Elijah? He answered him, It is I, go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here. He said, Wherein have I sinned, that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where my lord has not sent to seek you, and when they said, He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they did not find you. Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here. It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I do not know where, and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me, but I your servant fear the Lord from my youth. Was not it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here, and he will kill me. Elijah said, As the Lord of Armies lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel? He answered, I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed the Baals. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together to Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you waver between the two sides? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, "I, I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bulls, and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under, and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under. You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, let him be God." All the people answered, "It is well said." Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any who answered. They leaped about the altar which was made. It happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god, either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleeps and must be awakened. They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. It was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening offering; but there was nor voice, nor any to answer, nor any who regarded. Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me, and all the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name. With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. He put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood. He said, Do it the second time, and they did it the second time. He said, Do it the third time, and they did it the third time. The water ran round about the altar, and he filled the trench also with water. It happened at the time of the offering of the evening offering, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, the Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, the Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you, the Lord, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, the Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God. and Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape. They took them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.

Reading 98/341, 1 Kings 13.7-15.34

...1 Kings...

The king said to the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward. The man of God said to the king, If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat bread nor drink water in this place; for so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that you came. So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel. Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel, and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel, the words which he had spoken to the king, them also they told to their father. Their father said to them, Which way did he go? Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah. He said to his sons, Saddle me the donkey. So they saddled him the donkey, and he rode thereon. He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak, and he said to him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? He said, I am. Then he said to him, Come home with me, and eat bread. He said, I may not return with you, nor go in with you; nor will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, You shall eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that you came. He said to him, I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied to him. So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. It happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who brought him back, and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord, Because you have been disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but came back, and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, Eat no bread, and drink no water; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers. It happened, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the donkey, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. When he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and killed him, and his body was cast in the way, and the donkey stood by it; the lion also stood by the body. Behold, men passed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body, and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived. When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him. He spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me the donkey. They saddled it. He went and found his body cast in the way, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body, the lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the donkey. The prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back, and he came to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and to bury him. He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! It happened, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely happen. After this thing Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places, whoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places. This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth. At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. Jeroboam said to his wife, Please get up and disguise yourself, that you not be known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and get you to Shiloh, behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, and cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him, he will tell you what shall become of the child. Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. The Lord said to Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam comes to inquire of you concerning her son; for he is sick, thus and thus shall you tell her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will feign herself to be another woman. It was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, you wife of Jeroboam; why feign you yourself to be another? for I am sent to you with heavy news. Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it you, and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in my eyes, but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made you other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall, him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it be all gone. Him who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and him who dies in the field shall the birds of the sky eat, for the Lord has spoken it. Arise you therefore, get you to your house, and when your feet enter into the city, the child shall die. All Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover the Lord will raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day, but what? now. For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin. Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah, and as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. All Israel buried him, and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet. The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. The days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years, and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place. Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there, and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done. For they also built them high places, and pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree, and there were also sodomites in the land, they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord drove out before the children of Israel. It happened in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he took away all, and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. It was so, that as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard chamber. Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son reigned in his place. Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat began Abijam to reign over Judah. Three years reigned he in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem; because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned in his place. In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Asa to reign over Judah. Forty-one years reigned he in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. Also Maacah his mother he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah, and Asa cut down her image, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken away, nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days. He brought into the house of the Lord the things that his father had dedicated, and the things that himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants, and king Asa sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and you, between my father and your father, behold, I have sent to you a present of silver and gold; go, break your league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Beth Maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. It happened, when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building Ramah, and lived in Tirzah. Then king Asa made a proclamation to all Judah; none was exempted, and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber of it, with which Baasha had built, and king Asa built therewith Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin. Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha kill him, and reigned in his place. It happened that, as soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam, he did not leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger. Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are not they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.

Reading 97/341, 1 Kings 11-13.6

...1 Kings...

Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel, You shall not go among them, nor shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods, Solomon joined to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. For it happened, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not go fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. So did he for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods. The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but he did not keep what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, Because this is done of you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Notwithstanding in your days I will not do it, for David your father's sake, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen. The Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, he was of the king's seed in Edom. For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the army was gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom); that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt, Hadad being yet a little child. They arose out of Midian, and came to Paran, and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, and appointed him food, and gave him land. Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. The sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house, and Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to my own country. Then Pharaoh said to him, But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you seek to go to your own country? He answered, Nothing, however only let me depart. God raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. He gathered men to him, and became captain over a troop, when David killed them of Zobah, and they went to Damascus, and lived therein, and reigned in Damascus. He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the mischief that Hadad did, and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, he also lifted up his hand against the king. This was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king, Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breach of the city of David his father. The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he gave him charge over all the labor of the house of Joseph. It happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment, and they two were alone in the field. Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. He said to Jeroboam, Take ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you (but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel); because that they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and they have not walked in my ways, to do what is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my ordinances, as did David his father. However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes; but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it to you, ten tribes. To his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel. It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are not they written in the book of the acts of Solomon? The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. It happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt, and they sent and called him), that Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, Your father made our yoke grievous, now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you. He said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. The people departed. King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give you me to return answer to this people? They spoke to him, saying, If you will be a servant to this people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. He said to them, What counsel do you give, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke that your father did put on us lighter? The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you tell this people who spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make you it lighter to us; thus shall you speak to them, My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. Now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke, my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come to me again the third day. The king answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke, my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a thing brought about of the Lord, that he might establish his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? nor have we inheritance in the son of Jesse, to your tents, Israel, now see to your own house, David. So Israel departed to their tents. But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day. It happened, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was returned, that they sent and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel, there was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. When Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers the children of Israel, return every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way, according to the word of the Lord. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived therein, and he went out from there, and built Penuel. Jeroboam said in his heart, Now will the kingdom return to the house of David, if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem, see your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. He set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. This thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, to Dan. He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; so did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month which he had devised of his own heart, and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense. Behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Beth El, and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. He cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, altar, altar, thus says the Lord, Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and on you shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall they burn on you. He gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has spoken, Behold, the altar shall be torn, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out. It happened, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. His hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him. The altar also was torn, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. The king answered the man of God, Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. The man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

Reading 96/341, 1 Kings 8.44-10.29

...1 Kings...

If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name; then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against you (for there is no man who does not sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; yet if they shall repent themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly; if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name, then hear you their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you, and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron); that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you. For you did separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord God. It was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven. He stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised, there has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, let him not leave us, nor forsake us; that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord, he is God; there is none else. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day. The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. The same day did the king make the middle of the court holy that was before the house of the Lord; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offering, and the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people. It happened, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him, I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me, I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances; then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, according as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel. But if you shall turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them, and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. Though this house is so high, yet shall everyone who passes by it be astonished, and shall hiss, and they shall say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house? and they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them, therefore has the Lord brought all this evil on them. It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's house (now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him. He said, What cities are these which you have given me, my brother? He called them the land of Cabul to this day. Hiram sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold. This is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it for a portion to his daughter, Solomon's wife. Solomon built Gezer, and Beth Horon the lower, and Baalath, and Tamar in the desert, in the land, and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and what Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel; their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them did Solomon raise a levy of bondservants to this day. But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondservants; but they were the men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen. These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred fifty, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work. But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then did he build Millo. Three times a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to the Lord, burning incense therewith, on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the house. King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. Hiram sent in the navy his servants, sailors who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. They came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon. When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones, and when she was come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart. Solomon told her all her questions, there was not anything hidden from the king which he did not tell her. When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, and his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her. She said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. However I did not believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it, and behold, the half was not told me; your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, and who hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he you king, to do justice and righteousness. She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones, there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. The navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones. The king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers, there came no such almug trees, nor were seen, to this day. King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, besides what the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country. King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went to one buckler. he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went to one shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind, and there were stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps, there was nothing like it made in any kingdom. All king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold, none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram, once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. They brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt, and the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty, and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.