When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, the palace he had built,

She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight was true!

Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.

The priests and Levites who lived throughout Israel supported him, no matter where they resided.

He captured the fortified cities of Judah and marched against Jerusalem.

These were the ones who served the king, besides those whom the king placed in the fortified cities throughout Judah.

But Micaiah said, “As certainly as the Lord lives, I will say what my God tells me to say!”

Micaiah replied, “Look, you will see in the day when you go into an inner room to hide.”

Look how they are repaying us! They come to drive us out of our allotted land which you assigned to us!

The Lord stirred up against Jehoram the Philistines and the Arabs who lived beside the Cushites.

This is what you must do. One third of you priests and Levites who are on duty during the Sabbath will guard the doors.

He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done.

Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!”

He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done.

he consulted with his advisers and military officers about stopping up the springs outside the city, and they supported him.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites.

He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my permanent home.”

They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your mighty strength and by your powerful hand.

There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

There were others who said, “We are putting up our fields, our vineyards, and our houses as collateral in order to obtain grain during the famine.”