2 Chronicles 1; 2 Chronicles 2; 2 Chronicles 3; 2 Chronicles 4; 2 Chronicles 5; 2 Chronicles 6; 2 Chronicles 7; 2 Chronicles 8; 2 Chronicles 9

2 Chronicles 1

1 Solomon, David's son, became a powerful king, because the Lord his God was with him and made him very great.

2 Solomon spoke to all the people of Israel -- the commanders of a hundred men and of a thousand men, the judges, every leader in all Israel, and the leaders of the families.

3 Then Solomon and all the people with him went to the place of worship at the town of Gibeon. God's Meeting Tent, which Moses the Lord's servant had made in the desert, was there.

4 David had brought the Ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem, where he had made a place for it and had set up a tent for it.

5 The bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, who was the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the Holy Tent. So Solomon and the people worshiped there.

6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the presence of the Lord at the Meeting Tent and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."

8 Solomon answered, "You have been very kind to my father David, and you have made me king in his place.

9 Now, Lord God, may your promise to my father David come true. You have made me king of a people who are as many as the dust of the earth.

10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge so I can lead these people in the right way, because no one can rule them without your help."

11 God said to Solomon, "You have not asked for wealth or riches or honor, or for the death of your enemies, or for a long life. But since you have asked for wisdom and knowledge to lead my people, over whom I have made you king,

12 I will give you wisdom and knowledge. I will also give you more wealth, riches, and honor than any king who has lived before you or any who will live after you."

13 Then Solomon left the place of worship, the Meeting Tent, at Gibeon and went back to Jerusalem. There King Solomon ruled over Israel.

14 Solomon had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He kept some in special cities for the chariots, and others he kept with him in Jerusalem.

15 In Jerusalem Solomon made silver and gold as plentiful as stones and cedar trees as plentiful as the fig trees on the western hills.

16 He imported horses from Egypt and Kue; his traders bought them in Kue.

17 They imported chariots from Egypt for about fifteen pounds of silver apiece, and horses cost nearly four pounds of silver apiece. Then they sold the horses and chariots to all the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.

2 Chronicles 2

1 Solomon decided to build a temple as a place to worship the Lord and also a palace for himself.

2 He chose seventy thousand men to carry loads, eighty thousand men to cut stone in the hill country, and thirty-six hundred men to direct the workers.

3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of the city of Tyre: "Help me as you helped my father David by sending him cedar logs so he could build himself a palace to live in.

4 I will build a temple for worshiping the Lord my God, and I will give this temple to him. There we will burn sweet-smelling spices in his presence. We will continually set out the holy bread in God's presence. And we will burn sacrifices every morning and evening, on Sabbath days and New Moons, and on the other feast days commanded by the Lord our God. This is a rule for Israel to obey forever.

5 "The temple I build will be great, because our God is greater than all gods.

6 But no one can really build a house for our God. Not even the highest of heavens can hold him. How then can I build a temple for him except as a place to burn sacrifices to him?

7 "Now send me a man skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, red, and blue thread. He must also know how to make engravings. He will work with my skilled craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David chose.

8 "Also send me cedar, pine, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I know your servants are experienced at cutting down the trees in Lebanon, and my servants will help them.

9 Send me a lot of wood, because the temple I am going to build will be large and wonderful.

10 I will give your servants who cut the wood one hundred twenty-five thousand bushels of wheat, one hundred twenty-five thousand bushels of barley, one hundred fifteen thousand gallons of wine, and one hundred fifteen thousand gallons of oil."

11 Then Hiram king of Tyre answered Solomon with this letter: "Solomon, because the Lord loves his people, he chose you to be their king."

12 Hiram also said: "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, one with wisdom and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.

13 "I will send you a skilled and wise man named Huram-Abi.

14 His mother was from the people of Dan, and his father was from Tyre. Huram-Abi is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and red thread, and expensive linen. He is skilled in making engravings and can make any design you show him. He will help your craftsmen and the craftsmen of your father David.

15 "Now send my servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine you promised.

16 We will cut as much wood from Lebanon as you need and will bring it on rafts by sea to Joppa. Then you may carry it to Jerusalem."

17 Solomon counted all the foreigners living in Israel. (This was after the time his father David had counted the people.) There were one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred foreigners in the country.

18 Solomon chose seventy thousand of them to carry loads, eighty thousand of them to cut stone in the mountains, and thirty-six hundred of them to direct the workers and to keep the people working.

2 Chronicles 3

1 Then Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. This was where the Lord had appeared to David, Solomon's father. Solomon built the Temple on the place David had prepared on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

2 Solomon began building in the second month of the fourth year he ruled Israel.

3 Solomon used these measurements for building the Temple of God. It was ninety feet long and thirty feet wide, using the old measurement.

4 The porch in front of the main room of the Temple was thirty feet long and thirty feet high. He covered the inside of the porch with pure gold.

5 He put panels of pine on the walls of the main room and covered them with pure gold. Then he put designs of palm trees and chains in the gold.

6 He decorated the Temple with gems and gold from Parvaim.

7 He put gold on the Temple's ceiling beams, doorposts, walls, and doors, and he carved creatures with wings on the walls.

8 Then he made the Most Holy Place. It was thirty feet long and thirty feet wide, as wide as the Temple. He covered its walls with about forty-six thousand pounds of pure gold.

9 The gold nails weighed over a pound. He also covered the upper rooms with gold.

10 He made two creatures with wings for the Most Holy Place and covered them with gold.

11 The wings of the gold creatures were thirty feet across. One wing of one creature was seven and one-half feet long and touched the Temple wall. The creature's other wing was also seven and one-half feet long, and it touched a wing of the second creature.

12 One wing of the second creature touched the other side of the room and was also seven and one-half feet long. The second creature's other wing touched the first creature's wing, and it was also seven and one-half feet long.

13 Together, the creatures' wings were thirty feet across. The creatures stood on their feet, facing the main room.

14 He made the curtain of blue, purple, and red thread, and expensive linen, and he put designs of creatures with wings in it.

15 He made two pillars to stand in front of the Temple. They were about fifty-two feet tall, and the capital of each pillar was over seven feet tall.

16 He made a net of chains and put them on the tops of the pillars. He made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.

17 Then he put the pillars up in front of the Temple. One pillar stood on the south side, the other on the north. He named the south pillar He Establishes and the north pillar In Him Is Strength.

2 Chronicles 4

1 He made a bronze altar thirty feet long thirty feet wide, and fifteen feet tall.

2 Then he made from bronze a large round bowl, which was called the Sea. It was forty-five feet around, fifteen feet across, and seven and one-half feet deep.

3 There were carvings of bulls under the rim of the bowl -- ten bulls every eighteen inches. They were in two rows and were made in one piece with the bowl.

4 The bowl rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward from the center of the bowl. Three bulls faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east.

5 The sides of the bowl were four inches thick, and it held about seventeen thousand five hundred gallons. The rim of the bowl was like the rim of a cup or like a lily blossom.

6 He made ten smaller bowls and put five on the south side and five on the north. They were for washing the animals for the burnt offerings, but the large bowl was for the priests to wash in.

7 He made ten lampstands of gold, following the plans. He put them in the Temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

8 He made ten tables and put them in the Temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he used gold to make a hundred other bowls.

9 He also made the priests' courtyard and the large courtyard. He made the doors that opened to the courtyard and covered them with bronze.

10 Then he put the large bowl in the southeast corner of the Temple.

11 Huram also made bowls, shovels, and small bowls. So he finished his work for King Solomon on the Temple of God:

12 two pillars; two large bowls for the capitals on top of the pillars; two nets to cover the two large bowls for the capitals on top of the pillars;

13 four hundred pomegranates for the two nets (there were two rows of pomegranates for each net covering the bowls for the capitals on top of the pillars);

14 the stands with a bowl on each stand;

15 the large bowl with twelve bulls under it;

16 the pots, shovels, forks, and all the things to go with them. All the things that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the Temple of the Lord were made of polished bronze.

17 The king had these things poured into clay molds that were made in the plain of the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan.

18 Solomon had so many things made that the total weight of all the bronze was never known.

19 Solomon also made all the things for God's Temple: the golden altar; tables which held the bread that shows God's people are in his presence;

20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the Most Holy Place as planned;

21 the flowers, lamps, and tongs of pure gold;

22 the pure gold wick trimmers, small bowls, pans, and dishes used to carry coals, the gold doors for the Temple, and the inside doors of the Most Holy Place and of the main room.

2 Chronicles 5

1 Finally all the work Solomon did for the Temple of the Lord was fin- ished. He brought in everything his father David had set apart for the Temple -- all the silver and gold and other articles. And he put everything in the treasuries of God's Temple.

2 Solomon called for the older leaders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the families to come to him in Jerusalem. He wanted them to bring the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord from the older part of the city.

3 So all the Israelites came together with the king during the festival in the seventh month.

4 When all the older leaders of Israel arrived, the Levites lifted up the Ark.

5 They carried the Ark of the Agreement, the Meeting Tent, and the holy utensils in it; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

6 King Solomon and all the Israelites gathered before the Ark of the Agreement and sacrificed so many sheep and bulls no one could count them.

7 Then the priests put the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord in its place inside the Most Holy Place in the Temple, under the wings of the golden creatures.

8 The wings of these creatures were spread out over the place for the Ark, covering it and its carrying poles.

9 The carrying poles were so long that anyone standing in the Holy Place in front of the Most Holy Place could see the ends of the poles. But no one could see them from outside the Holy Place. The poles are still there today.

10 The only things inside the Ark were two stone tabletsn that Moses had put in the Ark at Mount Sinai. That was where the Lord made his agreement with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

11 Then all the priests left the Holy Place. (All the priests from each group had made themselves ready to serve the Lord.)

12 All the Levite musicians -- Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and all their sons and relatives -- stood on the east side of the altar. They were dressed in white linen and played cymbals, harps, and lyres. With them were one hundred twenty priests who blew trumpets.

13 Those who blew the trumpets and those who sang together sounded like one person as they praised and thanked the Lord. They sang as others played their trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments. They praised the Lord with this song: "He is good; his love continues forever." Then the Temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud.

14 The priests could not continue their work because of the cloud, because the Lord's glory filled the Temple of God.

2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon said, "The Lord said he would live in the dark cloud.

2 Lord, I have built a wonderful Temple for you -- a place for you to live forever."

3 While all the Israelites were standing there, King Solomon turned to them and blessed them.

4 Then he said, "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. He has done what he promised to my father David. The Lord said,

5 'Since the time I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel where a temple will be built for me. I did not choose a man to lead my people Israel.

6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place I am to be worshiped, and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.'

7 "My father David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel.

8 But the Lord said to my father David, 'It was good that you wanted to build a temple for me.

9 But you are not the one to build it. Your son, who comes from your own body, is the one who will build my temple.'

10 "Now the Lord has kept his promise. I am the king now in place of David my father. Now I rule Israel as the Lord promised, and I have built the Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel.

11 There I have put the Ark, in which is the Agreement the Lord made with the Israelites."

12 Then Solomon stood facing the Lord's altar, and all the Israelites were standing behind him. He spread out his hands.

13 He had made a bronze platform seven and one-half feet long, seven and one-half feet wide, and seven and one-half feet high, and he had placed it in the middle of the outer courtyard. Solomon stood on the platform. Then he kneeled in front of all the people of Israel gathered there, and he spread out his hands toward the sky.

14 He said, "Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth. You keep your agreement of love with your servants who truly follow you.

15 You have kept the promise you made to your servant David, my father. You spoke it with your own mouth and finished it with your hands today.

16 "Now, Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant David, my father. You said, 'If your sons are careful to obey my teachings as you have obeyed, there will always be someone from your family ruling Israel.'

17 Now, Lord, God of Israel, please continue to keep that promise you made to your servant.

18 "But, God, can you really live here on the earth with people? The sky and the highest place in heaven cannot contain you. Surely this house which I have built cannot contain you.

19 But please listen to my prayer and my request, because I am your servant. Lord my God, hear this prayer your servant prays to you.

20 Day and night please watch over this Temple where you have said you would be worshiped. Hear the prayer I pray facing this Temple.

21 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel when we pray facing this place. Hear from your home in heaven, and when you hear, forgive us.

22 "If someone wrongs another person, he will be brought to the altar in this Temple. If he swears an oath that he is not guilty,

23 then hear in heaven. Judge the case, punish the guilty, but declare that the innocent person is not guilty.

24 "When your people, the Israelites, sin against you, their enemies will defeat them. But if they come back to you and praise you and pray to you in this Temple,

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

26 "When they sin against you, you will stop the rain from falling on their land. Then they will pray, facing this place and praising you; they will stop sinning when you make them suffer.

27 When this happens, hear their prayer in heaven, and forgive the sins of your servants, the Israelites. Teach them to do what is right. Then please send rain to this land you have given particularly to them.

28 "At times the land will get so dry that no food will grow, or a great sickness will spread among the people. Sometimes the crops will be destroyed by locusts or grasshoppers. Your people will be attacked in their cities by their enemies, or will become sick.

29 When any of these things happens, the people will become truly sorry. If your people spread their hands in prayer toward this Temple,

30 then hear their prayers from your home in heaven. Forgive and treat each person as he should be treated because you know what is in a person's heart. Only you know what is in people's hearts.

31 Then the people will respect and obey you as long as they live in this land you gave our ancestors.

32 "People who are not Israelites, foreigners from other lands, will hear about your greatness and power. They will come from far away to pray at this Temple.

33 Then hear from your home in heaven, and do whatever they ask you. Then people everywhere will know you and respect you, just as your people Israel do. Then everyone will know that I built this Temple as a place to worship you.

34 "When your people go out to fight their enemies along some road on which you send them, your people will pray to you, facing this city which you have chosen and the Temple I have built for you.

35 Then hear in heaven their prayers, and do what is right.

36 "Everyone sins, so your people will also sin against you. You will become angry with them and will hand them over to their enemies. Their enemies will capture them and take them away to a country far or near.

37 Your people will be sorry for their sins when they are held as prisoners in another country. They will be sorry and pray to you in the land where they are held as prisoners, saying, 'We have sinned. We have done wrong and acted wickedly.'

38 They will truly turn back to you in the land where they are captives. They will pray, facing this land you gave their ancestors, this city you have chosen, and the Temple I have built for you.

39 Then hear their prayers from your home in heaven and do what is right. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.

40 "Now, my God, look at us. Listen to the prayers we pray in this place.

41 Now, rise, Lord God, and come to your resting place. Come with the Ark of the Agreement that shows your strength. Let your priests receive your salvation, Lord God, and may your holy people be happy because of your goodness.

42 Lord God, do not reject your appointed one. Remember your love for your servant David."

2 Chronicles 7

1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from the sky and burned up the burnt offering and the sacrifices. The Lord's glory filled the Temple.

2 The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord, because the Lord's glory filled it.

3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down from heaven and the Lord's glory on the Temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and thanked the Lord, saying, "He is good; his love continues forever."

4 Then King Solomon and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord.

5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people gave the Temple to God.

6 The priests stood ready to do their work. The Levites also stood with the instruments of the Lord's music that King David had made for praising the Lord. The priests and Levites were saying, "His love continues forever." The priests, who stood across from the Levites, blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.

7 Solomon made holy the middle part of the courtyard, which is in front of the Temple of the Lord. There he offered whole burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. He offered them in the courtyard, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat.

8 Solomon and all the Israelites celebrated the festival for seven days. There were many people, and they came from as far away as Lebo Hamath and the brook of Egypt.

9 For seven days they celebrated giving the altar for the worship of God. Then they celebrated the festival for seven days. On the eighth day they had a meeting.

10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon sent the people home, full of joy. They were happy because the Lord had been so good to David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

11 Solomon finished the Temple of the Lord and his royal palace. He had success in doing everything he planned in the Temple of the Lord and his own palace.

12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself to be a Temple for sacrifices.

13 "I may stop the sky from sending rain. I may command the locusts to destroy the land. I may send sicknesses to my people.

14 Then if my people, who are called by my name, are sorry for what they have done, if they pray and obey me and stop their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.

15 Now I will see them, and I will listen to the prayers prayed in this place.

16 I have chosen this Temple and made it holy. So I will be worshiped there forever. Yes, I will always watch over it and love it.

17 "But you must serve me as your father David did. You must obey all I have commanded and keep my laws and rules.

18 If you do, I will make your kingdom strong. This is the agreement I made with your father David, saying, 'Someone from your family will always rule in Israel.'

19 "But you must follow me and obey the laws and commands I have given you. You must not serve or worship other gods.

20 If you do, I will take the Israelites out of my land, the land I have given them, and I will leave this Temple that I have made holy. All the nations will make fun of it and speak evil about it.

21 This Temple is honored now, but then, everyone who passes by will be shocked. They will ask, 'Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?'

22 People will answer, 'This happened because they left the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God who brought them out of Egypt. They decided to follow other gods and worshiped and served them, so he brought all this disaster on them.'"

2 Chronicles 8

1 By the end of twenty years, Solomon had built the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace.

2 Solomon rebuilt the towns that Hiram had given him, and Solomon sent Israelites to live in them.

3 Then he went to Hamath Zobah and captured it.

4 Solomon also built the town of Tadmor in the desert, and he built all the towns in Hamath as towns for storing grain and supplies.

5 He rebuilt the towns of Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, protecting them with strong walls, gates, and bars in the gates.

6 He also rebuilt the town of Baalath. And he built all the other towns for storage and all the cities for his chariots and horses. He built all he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and everywhere he ruled.

7 There were other people in the land who were not Israelites -- the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

8 They were descendants of the people that the Israelites had not destroyed. Solomon forced them to be slave workers, as is still true today.

9 But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites. They were his soldiers, chief captains, commanders of his chariots, and his chariot drivers.

10 These were his most important officers. There were two hundred fifty of them to direct the people.

11 Solomon brought the daughter of the king of Egypt from the older part of Jerusalem to the palace he had built for her. Solomon said, "My wife must not live in King David's palace, because the places where the Ark of the Agreement has been are holy."

12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar he had built for the Lord in front of the Temple porch.

13 He offered sacrifices every day as Moses had commanded. They were offered on the Sabbath days, New Moons, and the three yearly feasts -- the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters.

14 Solomon followed his father David's instructions and chose the groups of priests for their service and the Levites to lead the praise and to help the priests do their daily work. And he chose the gatekeepers by their groups to serve at each gate, as David, the man of God, had commanded.

15 They obeyed all of Solomon's commands to the priests and Levites, as well as his commands about the treasuries.

16 All Solomon's work was done as he had said from the day the foundation of the Temple of the Lord was begun, until it was finished. So the Temple was finished.

17 Then Solomon went to the towns of Ezion Geber and Elath near the Red Sea in the land of Edom.

18 Hiram sent ships to Solomon that were commanded by his own men, who were skilled sailors. Hiram's men went with Solomon's men to Ophir and brought back about thirty-four thousand pounds of gold to King Solomon.

2 Chronicles 9

1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She had a large group of servants with her and camels carrying spices, jewels, and much gold. When she came to Solomon, she talked with him about all she had in mind,

2 and Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too hard for him to explain to her.

3 The queen of Sheba saw that Solomon was very wise. She saw the palace he had built,

4 the food on his table, his many officers, the palace servants and their good clothes, the servants who served Solomon his wine and their good clothes. She saw the whole burnt offerings he made in the Temple of the Lord. All these things amazed her.

5 So she said to King Solomon, "What I heard in my own country about your achievements and wisdom is true.

6 I did not believe it then, but now I have come and seen it with my own eyes. I was not told even half of your great wisdom! You are much greater than I had heard.

7 Your men and officers are very lucky, because in always serving you, they are able to hear your wisdom.

8 Praise the Lord your God who was pleased to make you king. He has put you on his throne to rule for the Lord your God, because your God loves the people of Israel and supports them forever. He has made you king over them to keep justice and to rule fairly."

9 Then she gave the king about nine thousand pounds of gold and many spices and jewels. No one had ever given such spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10 Hiram's men and Solomon's men brought gold from Ophir, juniper wood, and jewels.

11 King Solomon used the juniper wood to build steps for the Temple of the Lord and the palace and to make lyres and harps for the musicians. No one in Judah had ever seen such beautiful things as these.

12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for, even more than she had brought to him. Then she and her servants returned to her own country.

13 Every year King Solomon received about fifty thousand pounds of gold.

14 Besides that, he also received gold from traders and merchants. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver.

15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, each of which contained about seven and one-half pounds of hammered gold.

16 He also made three hundred smaller shields of hammered gold, each of which contained about four pounds of gold. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

17 The king built a large throne of ivory and covered it with pure gold.

18 The throne had six steps on it and a gold footstool. There were armrests on both sides of the chair, and each armrest had a lion beside it.

19 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any other kingdom.

20 All of Solomon's drinking cups, as well as the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, were made of pure gold. In Solomon's time people did not think silver was valuable.

21 King Solomon had many ships that he sent out to trade, with Hiram's men as the crews. Every three years the ships returned, bringing back gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.

22 King Solomon had more riches and wisdom than all the other kings on earth.

23 All the kings of the earth wanted to see Solomon and listen to the wisdom God had given him.

24 Year after year everyone who came brought gifts of silver and gold, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and he had twelve thousand horses. He kept some in special cities for the chariots, and others he kept with him in Jerusalem.

26 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.

27 In Jerusalem the king made silver as common as stones and cedar trees as plentiful as the fig trees on the western hills.

28 Solomon imported horses from Egypt and all other countries.

29 Everything else Solomon did, from the beginning to the end, is written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, who wrote about Jeroboam, Nebat's son.

30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

31 Then Solomon died and was buried in Jerusalem, the city of David, his father. And Solomon's son Rehoboam became king in his place.