All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake. ¹ 

I ¹  grant your request, ²  and give ³  you a wise and discerning mind ⁴  superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. ⁵ 

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. ¹ 

There were six steps leading up to the throne, and the back of it was rounded on top. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. ¹ 

and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. ¹  But he did not obey ²  the Lord’s command.

and took off after the prophet, ¹  whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the prophet ²  from Judah?” He answered, “Yes, I am.”

You have sinned more than all who came before you. You went and angered me by making other gods, formed out of metal; you have completely disregarded me. ¹ 

Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God maintained his dynasty ¹  in Jerusalem by giving him a son ²  to succeed him ³  and by protecting Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Elijah ¹  replied, “I have not brought disaster ²  on Israel. But you and your father’s dynasty have, by abandoning the Lord’s commandments and following the Baals.

After this the following episode took place. ¹  Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel adjacent to the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. ² 

The Lord says, ¹  ‘Look, I am ready to bring disaster ²  on you. I will destroy you ³  and cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. ⁴ 

He was so wicked he worshiped the disgusting idols, ¹  just like the Amorites ²  whom the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.)

Visit ¹  King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise ²  your servant, “Surely your son Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’

Has my master the king authorized this without informing your servants ¹  who should succeed my master the king on his throne?” ² 

I will keep ¹  today the oath I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: ‘Surely Solomon your son will be king after me; he will sit in my place on my throne.’”

“But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, ¹  and decide to serve and worship other gods, ² 

They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, “You must not establish friendly relations with them! ¹  If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods.” ²  But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. ³ 

When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to ¹  other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. ² 

When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No one except the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty. ¹ 

After he buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet ¹  is buried; put my bones right beside his bones,