Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Horizon Church July Bible Reading Plan: Job - the God Who Speaks in Suffering

The 10 Commandments of Christian Dating

It Happened in Prayer

7 Days in His Presence

Faith Love Forgiveness

Mentoring Lessons- Cultural Awareness

A Life That Makes Room for God

Suffering Successfully

Experiencing Pain, Presence, and Purpose: Unlocking the Power of Faith 4-Day Devotional by Joy Lowery

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="1KI.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">David&#8217;s Charge to Solomon</div><div class="p"> 1When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.</div><div class="p"> 2&#8220;I am about to go the way of all the earth,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So be strong, act like a man, 3and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: &#8216;If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 5&#8220;Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me&#8212;what he did to the two commanders of Israel&#8217;s armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood he stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. 6Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and let them be among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: &#8216;I will not put you to death by the sword.&#8217; 9But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11He had reigned forty years over Israel&#8212;seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Throne Established</div><div class="p"> 13Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon&#8217;s mother. Bathsheba asked him, &#8220;Do you come peacefully?&#8221;</div><div class="p">He answered, &#8220;Yes, peacefully.&#8221; 14Then he added, &#8220;I have something to say to you.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;You may say it,&#8221; she replied.</div><div class="p"> 15&#8220;As you know,&#8221; he said, &#8220;the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the Lord. 16Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;You may make it,&#8221; she said.</div><div class="p"> 17So he continued, &#8220;Please ask King Solomon&#8212;he will not refuse you&#8212;to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18&#8220;Very well,&#8221; Bathsheba replied, &#8220;I will speak to the king for you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king&#8217;s mother, and she sat down at his right hand.</div><div class="p"> 20&#8220;I have one small request to make of you,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Do not refuse me.&#8221;</div><div class="p">The king replied, &#8220;Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21So she said, &#8220;Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother Adonijah.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22King Solomon answered his mother, &#8220;Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him&#8212;after all, he is my older brother&#8212;yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23Then King Solomon swore by the Lord: &#8220;May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request! 24And now, as surely as the Lord lives&#8212;he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promised&#8212;Adonijah shall be put to death today!&#8221; 25So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.</div><div class="p"> 26To Abiathar the priest the king said, &#8220;Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the ark of the Sovereign Lord before my father David and shared all my father&#8217;s hardships.&#8221; 27So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord, fulfilling the word the Lord had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.</div><div class="p"> 28When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, &#8220;Go, strike him down!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30So Benaiah entered the tent of the Lord and said to Joab, &#8220;The king says, &#8216;Come out!&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p">But he answered, &#8220;No, I will die here.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Benaiah reported to the king, &#8220;This is how Joab answered me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31Then the king commanded Benaiah, &#8220;Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so clear me and my whole family of the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed. 32The Lord will repay him for the blood he shed, because without my father David knowing it he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them&#8212;Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel&#8217;s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah&#8217;s army&#8212;were better men and more upright than he. 33May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his descendants forever. But on David and his descendants, his house and his throne, may there be the Lord&#8217;s peace forever.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 34So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joab and killed him, and he was buried at his home out in the country. 35The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab&#8217;s position and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest.</div><div class="p"> 36Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, &#8220;Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. 37The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 38Shimei answered the king, &#8220;What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said.&#8221; And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.</div><div class="p"> 39But three years later, two of Shimei&#8217;s slaves ran off to Achish son of Maakah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told, &#8220;Your slaves are in Gath.&#8221; 40At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves. So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath.</div><div class="p"> 41When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, 42the king summoned Shimei and said to him, &#8220;Did I not make you swear by the Lord and warn you, &#8216;On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die&#8217;? At that time you said to me, &#8216;What you say is good. I will obey.&#8217; 43Why then did you not keep your oath to the Lord and obey the command I gave you?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 44The king also said to Shimei, &#8220;You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my father David. Now the Lord will repay you for your wrongdoing. 45But King Solomon will be blessed, and David&#8217;s throne will remain secure before the Lord forever.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 46Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down and he died.</div><div class="p">The kingdom was now established in Solomon&#8217;s hands.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="1KI.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">Solomon Asks for Wisdom</div><div class="p"> 1Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. 3Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.</div><div class="p"> 4The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, &#8220;Ask for whatever you want me to give you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Solomon answered, &#8220;You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11So God said to him, &#8220;Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for&#8212;both wealth and honor&#8212;so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.&#8221; 15Then Solomon awoke&#8212;and he realized it had been a dream.</div><div class="p">He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord&#8217;s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.</div><div class="s1">A Wise Ruling</div><div class="p"> 16Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17One of them said, &#8220;Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. 18The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.</div><div class="p"> 19&#8220;During the night this woman&#8217;s son died because she lay on him. 20So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21The next morning, I got up to nurse my son&#8212;and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn&#8217;t the son I had borne.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22The other woman said, &#8220;No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But the first one insisted, &#8220;No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.&#8221; And so they argued before the king.</div><div class="p"> 23The king said, &#8220;This one says, &#8216;My son is alive and your son is dead,&#8217; while that one says, &#8216;No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24Then the king said, &#8220;Bring me a sword.&#8221; So they brought a sword for the king. 25He then gave an order: &#8220;Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, &#8220;Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don&#8217;t kill him!&#8221;</div><div class="p">But the other said, &#8220;Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27Then the king gave his ruling: &#8220;Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.</div>
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New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="1KI.9.1+1KI.9.2+1KI.9.3+1KI.9.4+1KI.9.5+1KI.9.6+1KI.9.7+1KI.9.8+1KI.9.9">
 <div class="p">1When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3The Lord said to him:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.</div><div class="pm"> 4&#8220;As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, &#8216;You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 6&#8220;But if you#9:6 The Hebrew is plural. or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you#9:6 The Hebrew is plural. and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8This temple will become a heap of rubble. All#9:8 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, &#8216;Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?&#8217; 9People will answer, &#8216;Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them&#8212;that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch11" data-usfm="1KI.11">
 <div class="label">11</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Wives</div><div class="p"> 1King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh&#8217;s daughter&#8212;Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, &#8220;You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.&#8221; Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.</div><div class="p"> 7On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.</div><div class="p"> 9The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord&#8217;s command. 11So the Lord said to Solomon, &#8220;Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Adversaries</div><div class="p"> 14Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 15Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. 16Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. 17But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. 18They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.</div><div class="p"> 19Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 20The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh&#8217;s own children.</div><div class="p"> 21While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, &#8220;Let me go, that I may return to my own country.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22&#8220;What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?&#8221; Pharaoh asked.</div><div class="p">&#8220;Nothing,&#8221; Hadad replied, &#8220;but do let me go!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24When David destroyed Zobah&#8217;s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. 25Rezon was Israel&#8217;s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel.</div><div class="s1">Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon</div><div class="p"> 26Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon&#8217;s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.</div><div class="p"> 27Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces#11:27 Or the Millo and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. 28Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.</div><div class="p"> 29About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, 30and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31Then he said to Jeroboam, &#8220;Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: &#8216;See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon&#8217;s hand and give you ten tribes. 32But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33I will do this because they have#11:33 Hebrew; Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac because he has forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon&#8217;s father, did.</div><div class="p"> 34&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon&#8217;s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. 35I will take the kingdom from his son&#8217;s hands and give you ten tribes. 36I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 37However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 38If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. 39I will humble David&#8217;s descendants because of this, but not forever.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 40Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon&#8217;s death.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Death</div><div class="p"> 41As for the other events of Solomon&#8217;s reign&#8212;all he did and the wisdom he displayed&#8212;are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? 42Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 43Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="1KI.12">
 <div class="label">12</div><div class="s1">Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam</div><div class="p"> 1Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from#12:2 Or he remained in Egypt. 3So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4&#8220;Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5Rehoboam answered, &#8220;Go away for three days and then come back to me.&#8221; So the people went away.</div><div class="p"> 6Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. &#8220;How would you advise me to answer these people?&#8221; he asked.</div><div class="p"> 7They replied, &#8220;If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9He asked them, &#8220;What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, &#8216;Lighten the yoke your father put on us&#8217;?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10The young men who had grown up with him replied, &#8220;These people have said to you, &#8216;Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.&#8217; Now tell them, &#8216;My little finger is thicker than my father&#8217;s waist. 11My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, &#8220;Come back to me in three days.&#8221; 13The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14he followed the advice of the young men and said, &#8220;My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.&#8221; 15So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.</div><div class="p"> 16When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;What share do we have in David,</div><div class="q2">what part in Jesse&#8217;s son?</div><div class="q1">To your tents, Israel!</div><div class="q2">Look after your own house, David!&#8221;</div><div class="m">So the Israelites went home. 17But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.</div><div class="p"> 18King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,#12:18 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 4:6 and 5:14); Hebrew Adoram who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.</div><div class="p"> 20When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.</div><div class="p"> 21When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin&#8212;a hundred and eighty thousand able young men&#8212;to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.</div><div class="p"> 22But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23&#8220;Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24&#8216;This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.</div><div class="s1">Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan</div><div class="p"> 25Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.#12:25 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel</div><div class="p"> 26Jeroboam thought to himself, &#8220;The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, &#8220;It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.&#8221; 29One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.#12:30 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text people went to the one as far as Dan</div><div class="p"> 31Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.</div>
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Solomon, the Temple & the Division of the Kingdom

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