The Reign of Abijam

151 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. 2 For three years he was king in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. 3 And he did the same sins which his father had done before him: his heart was not completely true to the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father. 4 But because of David, the Lord gave him a light in Jerusalem, making his sons king after him, so that Jerusalem might be safe; 5 Because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and never in all his life went against his orders, but only in the question of Uriah the Hittite. 6 ... 7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Then Abijam went to rest with his fathers, and they put him into the earth in the town of David: and Asa his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Asa

9 In the twentieth year that Jeroboam was king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah. 10 And he was king for forty-one years in Jerusalem; his mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father did. 12 Those used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods he sent out of the country, and he took away all the images which his fathers had made. 13 And he would not let Maacah his mother be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah; and Asa had the image cut down and burned by the stream Kidron. 14 The high places, however, were not taken away: but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life. 15 He took into the house of the Lord all the things which his father had made holy, and those which he himself had made holy, silver and gold and vessels.

Asa's League with Ben-hadad

16 Now there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days. 17 And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah, building Ramah, so that no one was able to go out or in to Asa, king of Judah. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold which was still stored in the Lord's house, and in the king's house, and sent them, in the care of his servants, to Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Rezon, king of Aram, at Damascus, saying, 19 Let there be an agreement between me and you as there was between my father and your father: see, I have sent you an offering of silver and gold; go and put an end to your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he may give up attacking me. 20 So Ben-hadad did as King Asa said, and sent the captains of his armies against the towns of Israel, attacking Ijon and Dan and Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth as far as all the land of Naphtali. 21 And Baasha, hearing of it, put a stop to the building of Ramah, and was living in Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa got all Judah together, making every man come; and they took away the stones and the wood with which Baasha was building Ramah, and King Asa made use of them for building Geba in the land of Benjamin, and Mizpah. 23 Now the rest of the acts of Asa, and his power, and all he did, and the towns of which he was the builder, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? But when he was old he had a disease of the feet. 24 So Asa went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth in the town of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Nadab

25 Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, became king over Israel in the second year that Asa was king of Judah; and he was king of Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the evil ways of his father, and the sin which he did and made Israel do. 27 And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the family of Issachar, made a secret design against him, attacking him at Gibbethon, a town of the Philistines; for Nadab and the armies of Israel were making war on Gibbethon. 28 In the third year of the rule of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha put him to death, and became king in his place. 29 And straight away when he became king, he sent destruction on all the offspring of Jeroboam; there was not one living person of all the family of Jeroboam whom he did not put to death, so the word of the Lord, which he said by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, came about; 30 Because of the sins which Jeroboam did and made Israel do, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath. 31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel? 32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

The Reign of Baasha

33 In the third year of the rule of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and was king for twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the evil ways of Jeroboam and the sin which he made Israel do.

Solomon Marries Pharaoh's Daughter

31 Solomon became the son-in-law of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife, keeping her in the town of David, till the house he was building for himself, and the house of the Lord and the wall round Jerusalem, were complete. 2 But all this time the people were making their offerings in the high places, because no house had been put up to the name of the Lord till those days.

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom

3 And Solomon, in his love for the Lord, kept the laws of David his father; but he made offerings and let them go up in smoke on the high places. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to make an offering there, because that was the chief high place: it was Solomon's way to make a thousand burned offerings on that altar.

5 In Gibeon, Solomon had a vision of the Lord in a dream by night; and God said to him, Say what I am to give you. 6 And Solomon said, Great was your mercy to David my father, as his life before you was true and upright and his heart was true to you; and you have kept for him this greatest mercy, a son to take his place this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; and I am only a young boy, with no knowledge of how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant has round him the people of your selection, a people so great that they may not be numbered, and no account of them may be given. 9 Give your servant, then, a wise heart for judging your people, able to see what is good and what evil; for who is able to be the judge of this great people? 10 Now these words and Solomon's request were pleasing to the Lord. 11 And God said to him, Because your request is for this thing, and not for long life for yourself or for wealth or for the destruction of your haters, but for wisdom to be a judge of causes; 12 I have done as you said: I have given you a wise and far-seeing heart, so that there has never been your equal in the past, and never will there be any like you in the future. 13 And with this I have given you what you made no request for: wealth and honour, so that no king was ever your equal. 14 And if you go on in my ways, keeping my laws and my orders as your father David did, I will give you a long life. 15 And Solomon, awakening, saw that it was a dream; then he came to Jerusalem, where he went before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings; and he made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon's Wisdom and Prosperity

16 Then two loose women of the town came and took their places before the king; 17 And one of them said, O my lord, I and this woman are living in the same house; and I gave birth to a child by her side in the house. 18 And three days after the birth of my child, this woman had a child: we were together, no other-person was with us in the house but we two only. 19 In the night, this woman, sleeping on her child, was the cause of its death. 20 And she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was sleeping; and she took it in her arms and put her dead child in my arms. 21 And when I got up to give my child the breast, I saw that it was dead; but in the morning, looking at it with care, I saw that it was not my son. 22 And the other woman said, No; but the living child is my son and the dead one yours. But the first said, No; the dead child is your son and the living one mine. So they kept on talking before the king. 23 Then the king said, One says, The living child is my son, and yours is the dead: and the other says, Not so; but your son is the dead one and mine is the living. 24 Then he said, Get me a sword. So they went and put a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Let the living child be cut in two and one half given to one woman and one to the other. 26 Then the mother of the living child came forward, for her heart went out to her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the child; do not on any account put it to death. But the other woman said, It will not be mine or yours; let it be cut in two. 27 Then the king made answer and said, Give her the child, and do not put it to death; she is the mother of it. 28 And news of this decision which the king had made went through all Israel; and they had fear of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to give decisions.