There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb.<n id="1" /> It was there that<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

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

Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live.<n id="1" /> May you answer your servant&#8217;s prayer for this place.<n id="2" />

then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly<n id="1" /> you will then teach them the right way to live<n id="2" /> and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.<n id="3" />p>

When all your people Israel pray and ask for help,<n id="1" /> as they acknowledge their pain<n id="2" /> and spread out their hands toward this temple,

The <sc>Lordsc> said to him, &#8220;I have answered<n id="1" /> your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home;<n id="2" /> I will be constantly present there.<n id="3" />

then I will remove Israel from the land<n id="1" /> I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,<n id="2" /> and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed<n id="3" /> among all the nations.

Others will then answer,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Because they abandoned the <sc>Lordsc> their God, who led their ancestors<n id="2" /> out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.<n id="3" /> That is why the <sc>Lordsc> has brought all this disaster down on them.&#8217;&#8221;p>

all the storage cities that belonged to him,<n id="1" /> and the cities where chariots and horses were kept.<n id="2" /> He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings<n id="1" /> on the altar he had built for the <sc>Lordsc>, burning incense along with them before the <sc>Lordsc>. He made the temple his official worship place.<n id="2" />p>

I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn&#8217;t hear even half the story!<n id="1" /> Your wisdom and wealth<n id="2" /> surpass what was reported to me.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her.<n id="1" /> Then she left and returned<n id="2" /> to her homeland with her attendants.p>

So the <sc>Lordsc> said to Solomon, &#8220;Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you,<n id="1" /> I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

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.

He asked them, &#8220;How do you advise me<n id="1" /> to respond to these people who said to me, &#8216;Lessen the demands your father placed on us&#8217;?&#8221;<n id="2" />

The young advisers with whom Rehoboam<n id="1" /> had grown up said to him, &#8220;Say this to these people who have said to you, &#8216;Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.&#8217;<n id="2" /> Say this to them: &#8216;I am a lot harsher than my father!<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">On the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a date he had arbitrarily chosen)<n id="1" /> Jeroboam<n id="2" /> offered sacrifices on the altar he had made in Bethel.<n id="3" /> He inaugurated a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to offer sacrifices.

When the king heard what the prophet<n id="1" /> cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand<n id="2" /> and ordered,<n id="3" /> &#8220;Seize him!&#8221; The hand he had extended shriveled up<n id="4" /> and he could not pull it back.

<p class="bodytext">Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel.<n id="1" /> When his sons came home, they told their father<n id="2" /> everything the prophet<n id="3" /> had done in Bethel that day and all the words he had spoken to the king.<n id="4" />

and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;You<n id="1" /> have rebelled against the <sc>Lordsc><n id="2" /> and have not obeyed the command the <sc>Lordsc> your God gave you.