When the king heard what the prophet cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand and ordered, “Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up and he could not pull it back.

So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance.” He lay down on his bed, pouted, and would not eat.

Has my master the king authorized this without informing your servants who should succeed my master the king on his throne?”

and he told them, “Take your master’s servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon.

Under the rim all the way around it were round ornaments arranged in settings 15 feet long. The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.”

For the Lord gave me strict orders, ‘Do not eat or drink there; do not go back the way you came.’”

Say, ‘This is what the king says, “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water until I safely return.”’”

In the eleventh year, in the month Bul (the eighth month) the temple was completed in accordance with all its specifications and blueprints. It took seven years to build.

He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet.

Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place.

Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out completely). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day.

When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.

The remaining 27,000 ran to Aphek and went into the city, but the wall fell on them. Now Ben Hadad ran into the city and hid in an inner room.

Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?”

and he grabbed the robe and tore it into twelve pieces.

Ahab sent messengers to all the Israelites and had the prophets assemble at Mount Carmel.

He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs.

So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. And Hiram and Solomon were at peace and made a treaty.

But respond favorably to your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you today.

“Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.”