There

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

…because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have lived there as foreigners to this day.

There the Philistines abandoned their idols, and David and his men carried them away.

And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name—the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God.

How great You are, O Lord GOD! For there is none like You, and there is no God but You, according to everything we have heard with our own ears.

How great You are, O Lord GOD! For there is none like You, and there is no God but You, according to everything we have heard with our own ears.

Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”

And there was a servant of the house of Saul named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king inquired, “Are you Ziba?” “I am your servant,” he replied.

So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.”

So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.”

But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, who died there.

Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

After Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, he stayed there three years.

So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw.

Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”

“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”

But Ittai answered the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be!”

Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had passed out of the city.

So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace.

Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.”

When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.

Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived, exhausted. And there he refreshed himself.

Surely by now he is hiding in a cave or some other location. If some of your troops fall first, whoever hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’

If he retreats to a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one left who had not crossed the Jordan.

There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men.

“You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why did you not strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt!”

Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and send him on his way from there.

Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!”

But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the road, and when the man saw that all the troops were stopping there, he dragged the body off the road into a field and threw a garment over it.

During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

So David had the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan brought from there, and they also gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.

Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of Rapha.

Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

And there was also a battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,

And there was also a battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,

They looked, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.

…and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.

And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.

And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.

And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

Then, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him king over Israel. You are to blow the ram’s horn and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there with rejoicing that rings out in the city. That is the noise you hear.

Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.”

Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else.

Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.

Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.

…behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be.

…behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be.

Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. There was also one governor in the land of Judah.

But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.

Now therefore, order that cedars of Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, for you know that there are none among us as skilled in logging as the Sidonians.”

My servants will haul the logs from Lebanon to the Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them away. And in exchange, you can meet my needs by providing my household with food.”

And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.

Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.

There were three rows of high windows facing one another in three tiers.

There were four wheels under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand; each wheel was a cubit and a half in diameter.

Solomon left all these articles unweighed, because there were so many. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.

There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.

There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

…so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all

‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

…and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because You have afflicted them,

When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

…so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!

On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to contain all these offerings.

And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.

And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.

They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents—and delivered it to Solomon.

The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with a lion standing beside each armrest.

All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

Joab and all Israel had stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom.

There Hadad found such great favor in the sight of Pharaoh that he gave to him in marriage the sister of Queen Tahpenes, his own wife.

And the sister of Tahpenes bore Hadad a son named Genubath. Tahpenes herself weaned him in Pharaoh’s palace, and Genubath lived there among the sons of Pharaoh.

Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.

Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel.

Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel.

Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD.

For I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”

And there were men passing by who saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported this in the city where the old prophet lived.

…and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now get up, disguise yourself so they will not recognize you as my wife, and go to Shiloh. For Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who spoke about my kingship over this people.

There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.

And there was war between the houses of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life.

As for the rest of the acts of Abijam, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days.

“Let there be a treaty between me and you as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Now go and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”