Now the <sc>Lordsc> energized Elijah with power;<n id="1" /> he tucked his robe into his belt<n id="2" /> and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.p>

So he got up and ate and drank. That meal gave him the strength to travel forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.p>

Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed.&#8217;&#8221;

The king said to him, &#8220;How many times must I make you solemnly promise in<n id="1" /> the name of the <sc>Lordsc> to tell me only the truth?&#8221;

Say, &#8216;This is what the king says, &#8220;Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water<n id="1" /> until I safely return.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported<n id="1" /> Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he<n id="2" /> ran to the tent of the <sc>Lordsc> and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar.<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh&#8217;s daughter. He brought her to the City of David<n id="1" /> until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> and the wall around Jerusalem.<n id="2" />

&#8220;You know that my father David was unable to build a temple to honor the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> his God, for he was busy fighting battles on all fronts while the <sc>Lordsc> subdued his enemies.<n id="2" />

My servants will bring the timber down from Lebanon to the sea. I will send it by sea in raft-like bundles to the place you designate.<n id="1" /> There I will separate the logs<n id="2" /> and you can carry them away. In exchange you will supply the food I need for my royal court.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

He constructed the walls inside the temple with cedar planks; he paneled the inside with wood from the floor of the temple to the rafters<n id="1" /> of the ceiling. He covered the temple floor with boards made from the wood of evergreens.

<p class="bodytext">He also made the large bronze basin called &#8220;The Sea.&#8221;<n id="1" /> It measured 15 feet<n id="2" /> from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet<n id="3" /> high. Its circumference was 45 feet.<n id="4" />

At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the <sc>Lordsc> our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt<n id="1" /> in the south.<n id="2" />

The <sc>Lordsc> said to him, &#8220;I have answered<n id="1" /> your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home;<n id="2" /> I will be constantly present there.<n id="3" />

I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn&#8217;t hear even half the story!<n id="1" /> Your wisdom and wealth<n id="2" /> surpass what was reported to me.

With the timber the king made supports<n id="1" /> for the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments<n id="2" /> for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day.<n id="3" />)

So I am ready to bring disaster<n id="1" /> on the dynasty<n id="2" /> of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated.<n id="3" /> I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed.<n id="4" />

When he became king, he executed Jeroboam&#8217;s entire family. He wiped out everyone who breathed,<n id="1" /> just as the <sc>Lordsc> had predicted<n id="2" /> through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.

For this is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says, &#8216;The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the <sc>Lordsc> makes it rain on the surface of the ground.&#8217;&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">After this<n id="1" /> the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe.

Elijah approached all the people and said, &#8220;How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision?<n id="1" /> If the <sc>Lordsc> is the true God,<n id="2" /> then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!&#8221; But the people did not say a word.