The Lord has kept the promise he made. ¹  I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor ²  of the Lord God of Israel

When they return to you with all their heart and being ¹  in the land where they are held prisoner, ²  and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, ³ 

After all, ¹  you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, ²  just as you, O sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently, ¹  just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ ² 

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.’”

When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to ¹  other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. ² 

While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away ¹  and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave ²  so I can return to my homeland.”

I am taking the kingdom from him ¹  because they have ²  abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions ³  by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon’s father David did. ⁴ 

King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served ¹  his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, ²  “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

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 

Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. ¹  When his sons came home, they told their father ²  everything the prophet ³  had done in Bethel that day and all the words he had spoken to the king. ⁴ 

You went back and ate and drank in this place, even though he said to you, “Do not eat or drink there.” ¹  Therefore ²  your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.’” ³ 

The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. ¹  He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors ²  and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ³  because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles. ⁴ 

while he went a day’s journey into the desert. He went and sat down under a shrub ¹  and asked the Lord to take his life: ²  “I’ve had enough! Now, O Lord, take my life. After all, I’m no better than my ancestors.” ³ 

He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, then I will follow you.” Elijah ¹  said to him, “Go back! Indeed, what have I done to you?”

So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said, ¹  “I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance.” ²  He lay down on his bed, pouted, ³  and would not eat.

He followed in his father Asa’s footsteps and was careful to do what the Lord approved. ¹  (22:44) ²  However, the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; ¹  behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he ²  – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.

Solomon replied, “You demonstrated ¹  great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served ²  you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. ³  You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. ⁴ 

Now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, ¹  provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.’ ²