So I have decided<n id="1" /> to build a temple to honor the <sc>Lordsc><n id="2" /> my God, as the <sc>Lordsc> instructed my father David, &#8216;Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.&#8217;<n id="3" />

The <sc>Lordsc> has kept the promise he made.<n id="1" /> I have taken my father David&#8217;s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the <sc>Lordsc> promised. I have built this temple for the honor<n id="2" /> of the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel

He prayed:<n id="1" /> &#8220;O <sc>Lord,sc> God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty<n id="2" /> to your servants who obey you with sincerity.<n id="3" />

Then he told Jeroboam, &#8220;Take ten pieces, for this is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says: &#8216;Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon&#8217;s hand and I will give ten tribes to you.

All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam&#8217;s family<n id="1" /> who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel found anything good.

This happened because of all the sins which Baasha and his son Elah committed and which they made Israel commit. They angered the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel with their worthless idols.<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, &#8220;As certainly as the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel lives (whom I serve),<n id="1" /> there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.&#8221;<n id="2" />

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;

When it was time for the evening offering,<n id="1" /> Elijah the prophet approached the altar<n id="2" /> and prayed: &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc> God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove<n id="3" /> today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.

He answered, &#8220;I have been absolutely loyal<n id="1" /> to the <sc>Lordsc>, the sovereign God,<n id="2" /> even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you,<n id="3" /> torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.&#8221;<n id="4" />

He answered, &#8220;I have been absolutely loyal<n id="1" /> to the <sc>Lordsc>, the sovereign God,<n id="2" /> even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you,<n id="3" /> torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.&#8221;<n id="4" />

Now the advisers<n id="1" /> of the king of Syria said to him: &#8220;Their God is a god of the mountains. That&#8217;s why they overpowered us. But if we fight them in the plains, we will certainly overpower them.

Now, O <sc>Lord,sc> God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, &#8216;You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,<n id="1" /> provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.&#8217;<n id="2" />