Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. ¹  May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. ² 

“The time will come when ¹  your people Israel are defeated by an enemy ²  because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, ³  and pray for your help ⁴  in this temple,

I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules.

The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ¹  had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ ²  Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ³ 

Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; ¹  the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. ² 

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 

When your people ¹  come to their senses ²  in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray; ³  we have done evil.’

This happened because of the sins he committed. He did evil in the sight of ¹  the Lord and followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to continue sinning. ² 

With the timber the king made supports ¹  for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments ²  for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day. ³ )

Bathsheba replied, “That’s fine, ¹  I’ll speak to the king on your behalf.”

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 

The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the Lord.

The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. ¹  Solomon would offer up ²  a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there.

Solomon had twelve district governors appointed throughout Israel who acquired supplies for the king and his palace. Each was responsible for one month in the year.

Just then ¹  a prophet ²  from Judah, sent by the Lord, arrived in Bethel, ³  as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice.

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 

Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them. ¹ 

When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky. ¹ 

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from all of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin ¹  to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

Then you ¹  will invoke the name of your god, and I will invoke the name of the Lord. The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God.” ²  All the people responded, “This will be a fair test.” ³