He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood.

<p class="bodytext">So Ahab<n id="1" /> assembled the 232 servants of the district governors. After that he assembled all the Israelite army, numbering 7,000.<n id="2" />

Muster an army like the one you lost, with the same number of horses and chariots.<n id="1" /> Then we will fight them in the plains; we will certainly overpower them.&#8221; He approved their plan and did as they advised.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance.&#8221;<n id="2" /> He lay down on his bed, pouted,<n id="3" /> and would not eat.

He answered her, &#8220;While I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, I said to him, &#8216;Sell me your vineyard for silver, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.&#8217; But he said, &#8216;I will not sell you my vineyard.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />

Say to him, &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;Haven&#8217;t you committed murder and taken possession of the property of the deceased?&#8221;&#8217; Then say to him, &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth&#8217;s blood they will also lick up your blood &#8211; yes, yours!&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;p>

Now the king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, &#8220;Do not fight common soldiers or high-ranking officers;<n id="1" /> fight only the king of Israel.&#8221;

(Now his father had never corrected<n id="1" /> him<n id="2" /> by saying, &#8220;Why do you do such things?&#8221; He was also very handsome and had been born right after Absalom.<n id="3" />)

<p class="bodytext">So Bathsheba visited the king in his private quarters.<n id="1" /> (The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.)

There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint<n id="1" /> him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and declare, &#8216;Long live King Solomon!&#8217;

Benaiah son of Jehoiada responded<n id="1" /> to the king: &#8220;So be it!<n id="2" /> May the <sc>Lordsc> God of my master the king confirm it!<n id="3" />

As the <sc>Lordsc> 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!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed<n id="1" /> him king in Gihon. They went up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That is the sound you hear.

<p class="bodytext">King Solomon then swore an oath by the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;May God judge me severely,<n id="1" /> if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life!<n id="2" />

If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.&#8221;<n id="1" />

The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei.<n id="1" />p> <p class="bodytext">So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.<n id="2" />p>

Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the <sc>Lordsc> by following<n id="1" /> the practices<n id="2" /> of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.p>

Now, O <sc>Lordsc> my God, you have made your servant king in my father David&#8217;s place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced.<n id="1" />

If you follow my instructions<n id="1" /> by obeying<n id="2" /> my rules and regulations, just as your father David did,<n id="3" /> then I will grant you long life.&#8221;<n id="4" />

I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was,<n id="1" /> dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.&#8221;<n id="2" />