Book of 1 Kings
Chapter 1
1; And King David was old, going into days. And they covered him with garments, for he had no heat.
2; And his servants said to him, Let them seek out a young woman for my master the king, a virgin, and she shall stand before the king, and be a nurse to him, and lie in your bosom, and my master the king shall have heat.
3; And they sought out a beautiful young woman in all the border of Israel. And they found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her in to the king.
4; And the young woman was exceedingly beautiful, and she was a nurse to the king and served him. But the king did not know her.
5; And Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will reign. And he prepared a chariot for himself, and horsemen, and fifty men running before his face.
6; And his father had not troubled him all his days, saying, Why have you done so? And he also was very good of form, and one had borne him after Absalom.
7; And his words were with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest. And they helped, going after Adonijah.
8; But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men who were to David, were not with Adonijah.
9; And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings near the Stone of Serpents which is near En-Rogel. And he called all his brothers, the sons of the king, and all the men of Judah, the servants of the king.
10; But he did not call Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and his brother Solomon.
11; And Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and our master David does not know?
12; And now, come, please let me counsel you with counsel, and save your life, and the life of your son Solomon.
13; Go up and go in to King David. And you shall say to him, My master, O king, have you not sworn to your handmaid, saying, Surely your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? And why does Adonijah reign?
14; Behold, while you are speaking with the king, then I will come in after you and will confirm your words.
15; And Bathsheba came in to the king, to the inner room. And the king was old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.
16; And Bathsheba bowed and knelt before the king. And the king said, What shall I do for you?
17; And she said to him, My master, you have sworn to your handmaid by YAHWEH your Elohim, saying, Surely your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.
18; And now, behold, Adonijah reigns. And now, my master O king, you have not known.
19; And he sacrifices oxen, and fatlings, and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he has not called to your servant Solomon.
20; And you, my master O king, the eyes of Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my master the king after him.
21; And it will be, when my master the king lies with his fathers, my son Solomon and I, shall be offenders.
22; And, behold, she was speaking with the king, and Nathan the prophet came in.
23; And they told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet! And he came in before the king and bowed to the king, his nose to the earth.
24; And Nathan said, My master O king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?
25; For he has gone down today and sacrificed oxen, and fatlings, and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, and the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and they are saying, Let King Adonijah live!
26; But as for me, I, your servant, and for Zadok the priest, and for Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and for your servant Solomon, he has not called.
27; If this thing is to come about from my master the king, then you have not caused your servant to know who shall sit on the throne of my master the king after him.
28; And King David replied and said, Call Bathsheba for me. And she came in before the king, and stood before the king.
29; And the king swore and said, As YAHWEH lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress,
30; surely as I swore to you by YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, saying, Surely your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place; surely so I will do this day.
31; And Bathsheba bowed her face to the earth, even bowing to the king, and said, Let my master King David live forever.
32; And King David said, Call Zadok the priest for me and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came in before the king.
33; And the king said to them, Take with you the servants of your master, and you shall cause my son Solomon to ride on my mule, and cause him to go down to Gihon.
34; And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet shall anoint him there as king over Israel. And you shall blow with the ram's horn and shout, Let King Solomon live!
35; And you shall come up after him, and let him come and sit on my throne, for he shall reign in my place. For I have appointed him ruler over Israel, and over Judah.
36; And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, Amen! So says YAHWEH the Elohim of my master the king.
37; As YAHWEH has been with my master the king, so shall He be with Solomon, and shall make his throne greater than the throne of my master King David.
38; And Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went out and caused Solomon to ride on King David's mule, and caused him to go to Gihon.
39; And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew with the ram's horn, and all the people shouted, Let King Solomon live!
40; And all the people came up after him. And the people were piping with pipes, and rejoicing with great joy. And the earth was torn with their sound.
41; And Adonijah heard, and all those invited, who were with him. And they stopped eating. And Joab heard the sound of the ram's horn, and said, What is this noise roaring from the city?
42; And he was still speaking, and, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came in. And Adonijah said, Come in, for you are a mighty man and bear good news.
43; And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Truly our master, King David, has caused Solomon to reign.
44; And the king sent Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet with him, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they caused him to ride on the king's mule.
45; And they anointed him, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, as king in Gihon. And they have come up from there rejoicing. And the city was roaring. It is the noise that you heard.
46; And also Solomon has sat on the throne of the kingdom.
47; And also the king's servants have come in to bless our master, King David, saying, Your Elohim shall make the name of Solomon better than your name, and his throne greater than your throne. And the king bowed himself on the bed.
48; And also the king has said, Blessed is YAHWEH the Elohim of Israel who has today given one sitting on my throne, and my eyes seeing it.
49; And they trembled and rose up, all those who were invited by Adonijah, and left, each to his way.
50; And Adonijah was afraid because of Solomon, and he rose up and went and lay hold on the horns of the altar.
51; And it was told to Solomon, saying, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon. And, behold, he has laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to me as of today that he will not put his servant to death by the sword.
52; And Solomon said, If he becomes a son of virtue, not a hair of his head shall fall to the earth. But if evil is found in him, then he shall die.
53; And King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came in and bowed to King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, Go to your house.
Chapter 2
1; And the days of David drew near for him to die. And he instructed his son Solomon, saying,
2; I am going in the way of all the earth. And you be strong, and be a man,
3; and keep the charge of YAHWEH your Elohim, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commands, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may do wisely all that you do, and there wherever you may turn,
4; so that YAHWEH may establish His Word which He spoke to me, saying, If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, saying, There shall not be a man to you cut off from the throne of Israel.
5; And also, you know that which Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, that which he did to the two army commanders of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, that he murdered them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his girdle, on his loins and in his sandals on his feet;
6; and you shall do according to your wisdom, and shall not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace.
7; You shall be merciful to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and they shall be among those eating at your table, for so they drew near to me when I fled from the face of your brother Absalom.
8; And, behold, with you is Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim. And he cursed me with a grievous cursing in the day I went to Mahanaim. And he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by YAHWEH, saying, I will not cause you to die by the sword.
9; And now, do not acquit him, for you are a wise man, and you know that which you shall do to him and shall bring his old age down with blood to Sheol.
10; And David lay with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
11; And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty three years in Jerusalem.
12; And Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.
13; And Adonijah the son of Haggith came in to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come in peace? And he said, Peace.
14; And he said, may a word be to you and to me? And she said, Speak.
15; And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their faces toward me to reign. Yet the kingdom has been turned around and is my brother's, because it was his from YAHWEH.
16; And now I am asking one petition of you. Do not turn away your face. And she said to him, Speak.
17; And he said, Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not turn away your face, that he give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.
18; And Bathsheba said, Well! I will speak to the king for you.
19; And Bathsheba came in to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat on his throne, and placed a throne for the king's mother. And she sat at his right hand.
20; And she said, I ask one small petition of you. Do not turn away my face. And the king said to her, Ask, my mother, for I will not turn away your face.
21; And she said, let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah for a wife.
22; And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Will you also ask the kingdom for him, for he is my older brother; yea, for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
23; And King Solomon swore by YAHWEH, saying, So shall Elohim do to me, and so shall He do more, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his life.
24; And now, as YAHWEH lives, who has established me and caused me to sit on the throne of my father David, and who has made a house for me, as He spoke, surely today Adonijah shall be made to die.
25; And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he fell on him, and he died.
26; And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Go to Anathoth, to your fields. For you are a man of death. But I will not at this time cause you to die, because you have borne the ark of Adonai YAHWEH before my father David, and because you were afflicted in all the things with which my father was afflicted.
27; And Solomon drove Abiathar from being priest to YAHWEH, to fulfill the Word of YAHWEH which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28; And the report came to Joab, for Joab had turned aside after Adonijah though he did not turn aside after Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of YAHWEH, and lay hold on the horns of the altar.
29; And it was told to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of YAHWEH, and, behold, he was by the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him.
30; And Benaiah came into the tabernacle of YAHWEH and said to him, So says the king, Come out. And he said, No, but I will die here. And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, So says Joab. Yea, so he answered me.
31; And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him, and turn aside the innocent blood which Joab shed, off of me and off of my father's house.
32; And YAHWEH shall turn back his blood on his own head, who has fallen on two men more righteous and better than he, and murdered them with the sword; and my father David not knowing: Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah.
33; Yea, He shall turn back their blood on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever. And as for David and for his seed, and for his house, and for his throne, there shall be peace forever from YAHWEH.
34; And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him, and caused him to die. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35; And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army. And the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.
36; And the king sent and called Shimei and said to him, Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there anywhere.
37; And it shall be, in the day you go out and cross the torrent Kidron, surely you shall know that surely you shall die; your blood shall be on your head.
38; And Shimei said to the king, The word is good. As my master the king has spoken, so your servant shall do. And Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.
39; And it happened at the end of three years, two of Shimei's servants fled to Achish the son of Maachah, the king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath.
40; And Shimei rose up and saddled his donkey and went to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.
41; And it was told to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.
42; And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not cause you to swear by YAHWEH, and testify to you, saying, In the day you go out, and you have gone anywhere, surely you shall know that certainly you shall die. And you said to me, The word I have heard is good.
43; And why have you not kept the oath of YAHWEH, and the charge that I instructed you?
44; And the king said to Shimei, You shall know all the evil that your heart has known, that which you did to my father David. Now YAHWEH has turned back your evil on your head.
45; And King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before YAHWEH forever.
46; And the king instructed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell on him, and he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
Chapter 3
1; And Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh the king of Egypt. And he took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David, until he finished building his own house, and the house of YAHWEH, and the wall of Jerusalem all around.
2; Only, the people were sacrificing in high places, for a house for the name of YAHWEH had not been built until those days.
3; And Solomon loved YAHWEH, to walk in the statutes of his father David. Only, he was sacrificing in high places and burning incense.
4; And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5; YAHWEH appeared to Solomon in Gibeon in a dream of the night. And Elohim said, Ask. What shall I give to you?
6; And Solomon said, You have done great kindness to Your servant, my father David, as he walked before You in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with You. And You have kept for him this great kindness, and have given to him a son sitting on his throne, as today.
7; And now, O YAHWEH my Elohim, You have caused Your servant to reign instead of my father David. And I am but a young boy; I do not know to go out and to come in.
8; And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a numerous people that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude.
9; Therefore, give to Your servant an understanding heart, to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this, Your great people?
10; And the word was good in the eyes of YAHWEH, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11; And Elohim said to him, Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself many days, nor asked riches for yourself, nor asked the life of your enemies, and have asked for discernment for yourself, to understand judgment,
12; behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given to you a wise and understanding heart, so that there was none like you before you, and after you none shall rise up like you.
13; And also, I have given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, that there shall not be a man like you among the kings all your days.
14; And if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commands, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.
15; And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream! And he came into Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of YAHWEH, and offered burnt offerings, and made peace offerings. And he made a banquet for all his servants.
16; Then two women, harlots, came in to the king and stood before him.
17; And the one woman said, O my master, this woman and I were living in one house. And I gave birth, with her in the house.
18; And it happened on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no stranger was with us in the house, only we two in the house.
19; And the son of this woman died at night, because she laid on it.
20; And she rose up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me and laid it in her bosom; and your handmaid was asleep. And she laid her dead son in my bosom.
21; And I rose up in the morning to suckle my son; and behold! It was dead. And I looked at it in the morning; and, behold, it was not my son whom I had borne.
22; And the other woman said, No, but my son is the living, and your son the dead. And this one said, No, but your son is dead, and my son the living. And they spoke before the king.
23; And the king said, This one says, This is my son, the living one, and your son the dead. And that one says, No, but your son is the dead, and my son the living.
24; And the king said, Bring a sword to me. And they brought the sword before the king.
25; And the king said, Divide the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.
26; And the woman whose son was the living one said to the king yea, she said, O my master, give her the living child, and do not at all put it to death. And this one said, Let it be neither yours or mine, divide it.
27; And the king answered and said, Give to her the living child, and do not put it to death at all; she is its mother.
28; And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had judged, and feared from the face of the king; for they saw that the wisdom of Elohim was in him to do judgment.
Chapter 4
1; And King Solomon was king over all Israel.
2; And these were the rulers he had: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest.
3; Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, were the scribes, Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud the recorder.
4; And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army. And Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5; And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers. And Zabud the son of Nathan was the minister and friend of the king.
6; And Ahishar was over the household. And Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor.
7; And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel. And they sustained the king and his household. Each man had one month in the year to provide.
8; And these are their names: Ben- Hur in the hills of Ephraim;
9; the son of Dekar in Makaz and in Shaalbim, and Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan;
10; the son of Hesed, in Aruboth;
11; the son of Abinadab in all the height of Dor, Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife;
12; Baana the son of Ahilud to whom was Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-Shean;
13; the son of Geber in Ramoth-Gilead;
14; Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim;
15; Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon for a wife;
16; Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth;
17; Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah was in Issachar;
18; Shimei the son of Elah was in Benjamin;
19; Geber the son of Uri was in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan; and there was one officer who was in the land;
20; Judah and Israel were many, as the sand by the sea in multitude; eating and drinking and rejoicing.
21; And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. They brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22; And Solomon's food for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal,
23; ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides deer and gazelles, and roebucks, and fattened fowl.
24; For he had the rule over all on this side of the River, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side of the River. And he had peace on all sides from around him.
25; And Judah and Israel lived securely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree; from Dan even to Beer-Sheba all the days of Solomon.
26; And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
27; And those officers provided food for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, a man in his month: they did not lack anything.
28; They also brought barley and straw for the horses and mules to the place where the officers were, each man according to his charge.
29; And Elohim gave Solomon exceeding great wisdom and under-standing, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the lip of the sea.
30; And Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and than all the wisdom of Egypt.
31; For he was wiser than all men; wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his name was in all nations all around.
32; And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five.
33; And he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree in Lebanon, even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish.
34; And there came some from all the people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
Chapter 5
1; And Hiram the king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he heard that they had anointed him king instead of his father. For Hiram was a lover of David all his days.
2; And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3; You knew my father David, that he was not able to build a house to the name of YAHWEH his Elohim because of the warfare that was around him, until YAHWEH had put them under the soles of his feet.
4; And now YAHWEH my Elohim has given me rest all around; there is no adversary nor evil happening.
5; And, behold, I am commanding a house to be built to the name of YAHWEH my Elohim, as YAHWEH spoke to my father David, saying, Your son, whom I will appoint in your place on your throne, he shall build the house for My name.
6; And now, command and they shall cut down for me cedars out of Lebanon. And my servants shall be with your servants. And I will give you hire for your servants according to all that you say. For you know that there is not a man among us knowing to cut timber like the Sidonians.
7; And it happened, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced exceedingly, and said, Blessed be YAHWEH today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.
8; And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard that for which you have sent to me. I will do all your will as to cedar wood and fir wood.
9; My servants will bring it down from Lebanon to the sea. And I will make floats for them in the sea to go to the place that you tell me. And I will spread them out there; and you shall take them up. And you shall do what I desire, to give food for my house.
10; And Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees, all his desire.
11; And Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat, food for his house; and twenty measures of beaten oil. This Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.
12; And YAHWEH gave wisdom to Solomon, as He had spoken to him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they cut a covenant, the two of them.
13; And King Solomon caused a labor force to go out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men.
14; And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses. They were a month in Lebanon, two months in their own house. And Adoniram was over the labor force.
15; And Solomon had seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain;
16; besides the rulers of Solomon's overseers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, those ruling over the people who were working in the work.
17; And the king instructed, and they brought great stones, costly stones, quarried stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18; And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders, and the Giblites, cut and prepared the wood and the stones to build the house.