2Chronicles:8-11
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And it came to pass at the end of twenty years ,
wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD ,
and his own house ,
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That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon ,
Solomon built them ,
and caused the children of Israel to dwell there .
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And Solomon went to Hamathzobah ,
and prevailed against it .
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And he built Tadmor in the wilderness ,
and all the store cities ,
which he built in Hamath .
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Also he built Bethhoron the upper ,
and Bethhoron the nether ,
fenced cities ,
with walls ,
gates ,
and bars ;
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And Baalath ,
and all the store cities that Solomon had ,
and all the chariot cities ,
and the cities of the horsemen ,
and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem ,
and in Lebanon ,
and throughout all the land of his dominion .
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As for all the people that were left of the Hittites ,
and the Amorites ,
and the Perizzites ,
and the Hivites ,
and the Jebusites ,
which were not of Israel ,
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But of their children ,
who were left after them in the land ,
whom the children of Israel consumed not ,
them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day .
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But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work ;
but they were men of war ,
and chief of his captains ,
and captains of his chariots and horsemen .
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And these were the chief of king Solomon '
s officers ,
even two hundred and fifty ,
that bare rule over the people .
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And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her :
for he said ,
My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel ,
because the places are holy ,
whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come .
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Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD ,
which he had built before the porch ,
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Even after a certain rate every day ,
offering according to the commandment of Moses ,
on the sabbaths ,
and on the new moons ,
and on the solemn feasts ,
three times in the year ,
even in the feast of unleavened bread ,
and in the feast of weeks ,
and in the feast of tabernacles .
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And he appointed ,
according to the order of David his father ,
the courses of the priests to their service ,
and the Levites to their charges ,
to praise and minister before the priests ,
as the duty of every day required :
the porters also by their courses at every gate :
for so had David the man of God commanded .
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And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter ,
or concerning the treasures .
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Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD ,
and until it was finished .
So the house of the LORD was perfected .
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Then went Solomon to Eziongeber ,
and to Eloth ,
at the sea side in the land of Edom .
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And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships ,
and servants that had knowledge of the sea ;
and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir ,
and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold ,
and brought them to king Solomon .
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And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon ,
she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem ,
with a very great company ,
and camels that bare spices ,
and gold in abundance ,
and precious stones :
and when she was come to Solomon ,
she communed with him of all that was in her heart .
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And Solomon told her all her questions :
and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not .
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And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon ,
and the house that he had built ,
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And the meat of his table ,
and the sitting of his servants ,
and the attendance of his ministers ,
and their apparel ;
his cupbearers also ,
and their apparel ;
and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD ;
there was no more spirit in her .
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And she said to the king ,
It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts ,
and of thy wisdom :
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Howbeit I believed not their words ,
until I came ,
and mine eyes had seen it :
and ,
behold ,
the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me :
for thou exceedest the fame that I heard .
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Happy are thy men ,
and happy are these thy servants ,
which stand continually before thee ,
and hear thy wisdom .
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Blessed be the LORD thy God ,
which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne ,
to be king for the LORD thy God :
because thy God loved Israel ,
to establish them for ever ,
therefore made he thee king over them ,
to do judgment and justice .
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And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold ,
and of spices great abundance ,
and precious stones :
neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon .
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And the servants also of Huram ,
and the servants of Solomon ,
which brought gold from Ophir ,
brought algum trees and precious stones .
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And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD ,
and to the king '
s palace ,
and harps and psalteries for singers :
and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah .
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And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire ,
whatsoever she asked ,
beside that which she had brought unto the king .
So she turned ,
and went away to her own land ,
she and her servants .
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Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold ;
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Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought .
And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon .
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And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold :
six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target .
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And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold :
three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield .
And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon .
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Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory ,
and overlaid it with pure gold .
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And there were six steps to the throne ,
with a footstool of gold ,
which were fastened to the throne ,
and stays on each side of the sitting place ,
and two lions standing by the stays :
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And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps .
There was not the like made in any kingdom .
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And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon 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 not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon .
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For the king '
s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram :
every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold ,
and silver ,
ivory ,
and apes ,
and peacocks .
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And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom .
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And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon ,
to hear his wisdom ,
that God had put in his heart .
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And they brought every man his present ,
vessels of silver ,
and vessels of gold ,
and raiment ,
harness ,
and spices ,
horses ,
and mules ,
a rate year by year .
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And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots ,
and twelve thousand horsemen ;
whom he bestowed in the chariot cities ,
and with the king at Jerusalem .
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And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines ,
and to the border of Egypt .
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And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones ,
and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance .
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And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt ,
and out of all lands .
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Now the rest of the acts of Solomon ,
first and last ,
are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet ,
and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite ,
and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat ?
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And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years .
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And Solomon slept with his fathers ,
and he was buried in the city of David his father :
and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead .
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And Rehoboam went to Shechem :
for to Shechem were all Israel come to make him king .
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And it came to pass ,
when Jeroboam the son of Nebat ,
who was in Egypt ,
whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon the king ,
heard it ,
that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt .
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And they sent and called him .
So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam ,
saying ,
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Thy father made our yoke grievous :
now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father ,
and his heavy yoke that he put upon us ,
and we will serve thee .
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And he said unto them ,
Come again unto me after three days .
And the people departed .
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And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived ,
saying ,
What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people ?
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And they spake unto him ,
saying ,
If thou be kind to this people ,
and please them ,
and speak good words to them ,
they will be thy servants for ever .
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But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him ,
and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him ,
that stood before him .
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And he said unto them ,
What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people ,
which have spoken to me ,
saying ,
Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us ?
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And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him ,
saying ,
Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee ,
saying ,
Thy father made our yoke heavy ,
but make thou it somewhat lighter for us ;
thus shalt thou say unto them ,
My little finger shall be thicker than my father '
s loins .
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For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you ,
I will put more to your yoke :
my father chastised you with whips ,
but I will chastise you with scorpions .
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So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day ,
as the king bade ,
saying ,
Come again to me on the third day .
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And the king answered them roughly ;
and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men ,
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And answered them after the advice of the young men ,
saying ,
My father made your yoke heavy ,
but I will add thereto :
my father chastised you with whips ,
but I will chastise you with scorpions .
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So the king hearkened not unto the people :
for the cause was of God ,
that the LORD might perform his word ,
which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat .
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And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them ,
the people answered the king ,
saying ,
What portion have we in David ?
and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse :
every man to your tents ,
O Israel :
and now ,
David ,
see to thine own house .
So all Israel went to their tents .
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But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah ,
Rehoboam reigned over them .
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Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute ;
and the children of Israel stoned him with stones ,
that he died .
But king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot ,
to flee to Jerusalem .
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And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day .
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And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem ,
he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men ,
which were warriors ,
to fight against Israel ,
that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam .
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But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God ,
saying ,
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Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon ,
king of Judah ,
and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin ,
saying ,
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Thus saith the LORD ,
Ye shall not go up ,
nor fight against your brethren :
return every man to his house :
for this thing is done of me .
And they obeyed the words of the LORD ,
and returned from going against Jeroboam .
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And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem ,
and built cities for defence in Judah .
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He built even Bethlehem ,
and Etam ,
and Tekoa ,
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And Bethzur ,
and Shoco ,
and Adullam ,
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And Gath ,
and Mareshah ,
and Ziph ,
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And Adoraim ,
and Lachish ,
and Azekah ,
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And Zorah ,
and Aijalon ,
and Hebron ,
which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities .
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And he fortified the strong holds ,
and put captains in them ,
and store of victual ,
and of oil and wine .
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And in every several city he put shields and spears ,
and made them exceeding strong ,
having Judah and Benjamin on his side .
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And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts .
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For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession ,
and came to Judah and Jerusalem :
for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest '
s office unto the LORD :
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And he ordained him priests for the high places ,
and for the devils ,
and for the calves which he had made .
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And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem ,
to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers .
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So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah ,
and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong ,
three years :
for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon .
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And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife ,
and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse ;
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Which bare him children ;
Jeush ,
and Shamariah ,
and Zaham .
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And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom ;
which bare him Abijah ,
and Attai ,
and Ziza ,
and Shelomith .
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And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines : (
for he took eighteen wives ,
and threescore concubines ;
and begat twenty and eight sons ,
and threescore daughters .)
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And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief ,
to be ruler among his brethren :
for he thought to make him king .
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And he dealt wisely ,
and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin ,
unto every fenced city :
and he gave them victual in abundance .
And he desired many wives .
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And it came to pass ,
when Rehoboam had established the kingdom ,
and had strengthened himself ,
he forsook the law of the LORD ,
and all Israel with him .