King Solomon sent men to bring him down<n id="1" /> from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon told him, &#8220;Go home.&#8221;<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>

<p class="bodytext">The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places.<n id="1" /> Solomon would offer up<n id="2" /> a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there.

May he make us submissive,<n id="1" /> so we can follow all his instructions<n id="2" /> and obey<n id="3" /> the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors.

and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods.<n id="1" /> But he did not obey<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s command.

Pharaoh said to him, &#8220;What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?&#8221;<n id="1" /> Hadad replied,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Nothing, but please give me permission to leave.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

He gathered some men and organized a raiding band.<n id="1" /> When David tried to kill them,<n id="2" /> they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city.

For the <sc>Lordsc> gave me strict orders,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Do not eat or drink<n id="2" /> there and do not go home the way you came.&#8217;&#8221;

and took off after the prophet,<n id="1" /> whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, &#8220;Are you the prophet<n id="2" /> from Judah?&#8221; He answered, &#8220;Yes, I am.&#8221;

As the prophet from Judah was traveling, a lion attacked him on the road and killed him.<n id="1" /> His corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey and the lion just stood there beside it.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Jeroboam&#8217;s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah.<n id="1" /> Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age.<n id="2" />

Go, tell Jeroboam, &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says: &#8220;I raised you up<n id="1" /> from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel.

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.<n id="1" />

He followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the <sc>Lordsc> his God, as his ancestor David had been.<n id="1" />

This happened because of the sins he committed. He did evil in the sight of<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> and followed in Jeroboam&#8217;s footsteps and encouraged Israel to continue sinning.<n id="2" />p>

He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat and encouraged Israel to sin;<n id="1" /> they angered the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel with their worthless idols.<n id="2" />p>

&#8220;Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told<n id="1" /> a widow who lives there to provide for you.&#8221;

Elijah<n id="1" /> replied, &#8220;I have not brought disaster<n id="2" /> on Israel. But you and your father&#8217;s dynasty have, by abandoning the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s commandments and following the Baals.

Meanwhile the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind blew, and there was a heavy rainstorm. Ahab rode toward<n id="1" /> Jezreel.

<p class="bodytext">Elijah was afraid,<n id="1" /> so he got up and fled for his life to Beer Sheba in Judah. He left his servant there,