When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky. ¹ 

Jeroboam was a talented man; ¹  when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe ²  of Joseph.

I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules.

All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family ¹  who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good.

He did this ¹  because David had done what he approved ²  and had not disregarded any of his commandments ³  his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite.

Now King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled all his army, along with thirty-two other kings with their horses and chariots. He marched against Samaria ¹  and besieged and attacked it. ² 

Each one struck down an enemy soldier; ¹  the Syrians fled and Israel chased them. King Ben Hadad of Syria escaped on horseback with some horsemen.

Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army, ¹  guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria.

Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s family in Jezreel, and all his nobles, close friends, and priests. He left no survivors.

At that time Menahem came from Tirzah and attacked Tiphsah. He struck down all who lived in the city and the surrounding territory, because they would not surrender. ¹  He even ripped open the pregnant women.

Now make a deal ¹  with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them.

“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down ¹  the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.

He issued this edict because ¹  a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah. ² 

The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Brook of Egypt and the Euphrates River.

The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers (there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors. ¹ 

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many sons, so their whole clan was not as numerous as the sons of Judah.

The ark of God remained in Obed-Edom’s house for three months; the Lord blessed Obed-Edom’s family and everything that belonged to him.

The Lord greatly magnified Solomon before all Israel and bestowed on him greater majesty than any king of Israel before him. ¹ 

But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, was in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. ¹  Solomon and the entire assembly prayed to him ²  there.)

The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple, ¹  and its height was 30 feet. ²  He plated the inside with pure gold.