then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help ¹  and vindicate them. ² 

Muster an army like the one you lost, with the same number of horses and chariots. ¹  Then we will fight them in the plains; we will certainly overpower them.” He approved their plan and did as they advised. ² 

They marched out of the city with the servants of the district governors in the lead and the army behind them.

Solomon left all these items unweighed; there were so many of them they did not weigh the bronze. ¹ 

When Hiram went out from Tyre to inspect the cities Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ¹ 

and he ¹  told them, “Take your master’s ²  servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon. ³ 

He asked them, “How do you advise me ¹  to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ² 

Their father asked them, “Which road did he take?” His sons showed him ¹  the road the prophet ²  from Judah had taken.

Each one struck down an enemy soldier; ¹  the Syrians fled and Israel chased them. King Ben Hadad of Syria escaped on horseback with some horsemen.

He made the ten stands in this way. All of them were cast in one mold and were identical in measurements and shape.

Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

Let them bring us two bulls. Let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, cut it up into pieces, and place it on the wood. But they must not set it on fire. I will do the same to the other bull and place it on the wood. But I will not set it on fire.

Others will then answer, ¹  ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors ²  out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. ³  That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.’”

They sailed ¹  to Ophir, took from there four hundred twenty talents ²  of gold, and then brought them to King Solomon.

He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas ¹  of gold were used for each of these shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. ² 

In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king over Israel. He ruled for twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.

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. ¹  There I will separate the logs ²  and you can carry them away. In exchange you will supply the food I need for my royal court.” ³ 

He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. Adoniram was supervisor of ¹  the work crews.

On the two doors made of olive wood he carved ¹  cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold. ²  He plated the cherubs and the palm trees with hammered gold. ³