As the war continued between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was becoming more influential in the house of Saul.

Abner advised the elders of Israel, “Previously you were wanting David to be your king.

Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master’s grandson.

As the Lord is with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon, and may he make him an even greater king than my master King David!”

I grant your request, and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you.

Furthermore, I am giving you what you did not request – riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation.

I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.”

Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king.

the food in his banquet hall, his servants and attendants, their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed.

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

There were also male cultic prostitutes in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

He followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been.

At that time the people of Israel were divided in their loyalties. Half the people supported Tibni son of Ginath and wanted to make him king; the other half supported Omri.

So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who supervised the palace. (Now Obadiah was a very loyal follower of the Lord.

Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of tribes that descended from Jacob, to whom the Lord had said, “Israel will be your new name.”

After this the following episode took place. Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel adjacent to the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.

(There had never been anyone like Ahab, who was firmly committed to doing evil in the sight of the Lord, urged on by his wife Jezebel.

While the battle raged throughout the day, the king stood propped up in his chariot opposite the Syrians. He died in the evening; the blood from the wound ran down into the bottom of the chariot.

Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He would send as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.

So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them.