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This article is part of a series of Bible passages, which together are mainly about how the Bible says the Jewish race developed and were given laws, how they settled in ancient Israel, and how it says God sometimes punished them for disobeying his commands, which led to them changing their ways.
This is Part 1 (of 11) in Section 8: "The Kings of Israel and Judah, and Disaster and Prosperity Brought on the Two Kingdoms According to Their Obedience or Disobedience to God".
Some parts of the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation are very unpleasant. If you become offended by anything, please read An Attempt to Explain Gruesome Bible Passages.
The purpose of the Old Testament seems to have been mainly to try to scare lawless societies into behaving decently, giving up the cruel ways the Bible says they were guilty of. Hence much of the gruesomeness, which is at least in part meant to warn people committing cruel and hurtful actions to change.
1 Chronicles chapter 29 (NIV)
26 David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. 27 He ruled over Israel forty years--seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.
1 Chronicles chapter 22 (TEV)
6 He sent for his son Solomon and commanded him to build a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to him, "Son, I wanted to build a temple to honor the Lord my God. 8 But the Lord told me that I had killed too many people and fought too many wars. And so, because of all the bloodshed I have caused, he would not let me build a temple for him. 9 He did, however, make me a promise. He said, "You will have a son who will rule in peace, because I will give him peace from all his enemies. His name will be Solomon, because during his reign I will give Israel peace and security. 10 He will build a temple for me. He will be my son, and I will be his father. His dynasty will rule Israel forever.' "
11 David continued, "Now, son, may the Lord your God be with you, and may he keep his promise to make you successful in building a temple for him. 12 And may the Lord your God give you insight and wisdom so that you may govern Israel according to his Law. 13 If you obey all the laws which the Lord gave to Moses for Israel, you will be successful.
17 David commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon. 18 He said, "The Lord your God has been with you and given you peace on all sides. He let me conquer all the people who used to live in this land, and they are now subject to you and to the Lord. 19 Now serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. Start building the Temple, so that you can place in it the Covenant Box of the Lord and all the other sacred objects used in worshiping him."
1 Kings chapter 1 (NLT)
1 Now King David was very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm. 2 So his advisers told him, "We will find a young virgin who will wait on you and be your nurse. She will lie in your arms and keep you warm."
3 So they searched throughout the country for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag from Shunem and brought her to the king. 4 The girl was very beautiful, and she waited on the king and took care of him. But the king had no sexual relations with her.
5 About that time David's son Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, decided to make himself king in place of his aged father. So he provided himself with chariots and horses and recruited fifty men to run in front of him. 6 Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, "What are you doing?" Adonijah was a very handsome man and had been born next after Absalom.
1 Kings chapter 1 (CEV)
7 Adonijah met with Joab the son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest and asked them if they would help him become king. Both of them agreed to help. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David's bodyguards all refused. 9 Adonijah invited his brothers and David's officials from Judah to go with him to Crawling Rock near Rogel Spring, where he sacrificed some sheep, cattle, and fat calves. 10 But he did not invite Nathan, Benaiah, David's bodyguards, or his own brother Solomon.
11 When Nathan heard what had happened, he asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother: Have you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has made himself king? But David doesn't know a thing about it. 12 You and your son Solomon will be killed, unless you do what I tell you. 13 Go say to David, "You promised me that Solomon would be the next king. So why is Adonijah now king?" 14 While you are still talking to David, I'll come in and tell him that everything you said is true."
15 Meanwhile, David was in his bedroom where Abishag was taking care of him because he was so old. Bathsheba went in 16 and bowed down.
"What can I do for you?" David asked.
17 Bathsheba answered: Your Majesty, you promised me in the name of the LORD your God that my son Solomon would be the next king. 18 But Adonijah has already been made king, and you didn't know anything about it. 19 He sacrificed a lot of cattle, calves, and sheep. And he invited Abiathar the priest, Joab your army commander, and all your sons to be there, except Solomon, your loyal servant.
20 Your Majesty, everyone in Israel is waiting for you to announce who will be the next king. 21 If you don't, they will say that Solomon and I have rebelled. They will treat us like criminals and kill us as soon as you die."
22 Just then, Nathan the prophet arrived. 23 Someone told David that he was there, and Nathan came in. He bowed with his face to the ground 24 and said: Your Majesty, did you say that Adonijah would be king? 25 Earlier today, he sacrificed a lot of cattle, calves, and sheep. He invited the army commanders, Abiathar, and all your sons to be there. Right now they are eating and drinking and shouting, "Long live King Adonijah!" 26 But he didn't invite me or Zadok the priest or Benaiah or Solomon. 27 Did you say they could do this without telling the rest of us who would be the next king?"
28 David said, "Tell Bathsheba to come here."
She came and stood in front of him. 29-30 Then he said, "The living LORD God of Israel has kept me safe. And so today, I will keep the promise I made to you in his name: Solomon will be the next king!"
31 Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I pray that you will live a long time!"
32 Then David said, "Tell Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah to come here."
When they arrived, 33 he told them: Take along some of my officials and have Solomon ride my own mule to Gihon Spring. 34 When you get there, Zadok and Nathan will make Solomon the new king of Israel. Then after the ceremony is over, have someone blow a trumpet and tell everyone to shout, "Long live King Solomon!"
35 Bring him back here, and he will take my place as king. He is the one I have chosen to rule Israel and Judah.
36 Benaiah answered, "We will do it, Your Majesty. I pray that the LORD your God will let it happen. 37 The LORD has always watched over you, and I pray that he will now watch over Solomon. May the LORD help Solomon to be an even greater king than you."
38 Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah left and took along the two groups of David's special bodyguards. Solomon rode on David's mule as they led him to Gihon Spring. 39 Zadok the priest brought some olive oil from the sacred tent and poured it on Solomon's head to show that he was now king. A trumpet was blown and everyone shouted, "Long live King Solomon!" 40 Then they played flutes and celebrated as they followed Solomon back to Jerusalem. They made so much noise that the ground shook.
41 Adonijah and his guests had almost finished eating when they heard the noise. Joab also heard the trumpet and asked, "What's all that noise about in the city?" 42 Just then, Jonathan son of Abiathar came running up. "Come in," Adonijah said. "An important man like you must have some good news."
43 Jonathan answered: No, I don't! David has just announced that Solomon will be king. 44-45 Solomon rode David's own mule to Gihon Spring, and Zadok, Nathan, Benaiah, and David's special bodyguards went with him. When they got there, Zadok and Nathan made Solomon king. Then everyone celebrated all the way back to Jerusalem. That's the noise you hear in the city. 46 Solomon is now king.
47 And listen to this! David's officials told him, "We pray that your God will help Solomon to be an even greater king!" David was in his bed at the time, but he bowed 48 and prayed, "I praise you, LORD God of Israel. You have made my son Solomon king and have let me live to see it."
49 Adonijah's guests shook with fear when they heard this news, and they left as fast as they could. 50 Adonijah himself was afraid of what Solomon might do to him, so he ran to the sacred tent and grabbed hold of the corners of the altar for protection.
51 Someone told Solomon, "Adonijah is afraid of you and is holding onto the corners of the altar. He wants you to promise that you won't kill him."
52 Solomon answered, "If Adonijah doesn't cause any trouble, I won't hurt him. But if he does, I'll have him killed."
53 Then he sent someone to the altar to get Adonijah. After Adonijah came and bowed down, Solomon said, "Adonijah, go home."
1 Kings chapter 2 (NLT)
1 As the time of King David's death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon: 2 "I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. 3 Observe the requirements of the LORD your God and follow all his ways. Keep each of the laws, commands, regulations, and stipulations written in the law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. 4 If you do this, then the LORD will keep the promise he made to me: 'If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.'"
10 Then David died and was buried in the City of David. 11 He had reigned over Israel for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.
12 Solomon succeeded him as king, replacing his father, David, and he was firmly established on the throne.
1 Kings chapter 3 (NLT)
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married one of his daughters. He brought her to live in the City of David until he could finish building his palace and the Temple of the LORD and the wall around the city. 2 At that time the people of Israel sacrificed their offerings at local altars, for a temple honoring the name of the LORD had not yet been built. 3 Solomon loved the LORD and followed all the instructions of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local altars. 4 The most important of these altars was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed one thousand burnt offerings.
5 That night the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!"
6 Solomon replied, "You were wonderfully kind to my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued this great kindness to him today by giving him a son to succeed him. 7 O LORD my God, now you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn't know his way around. 8 And here I am among your own chosen people, a nation so great they are too numerous to count! 9 Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great nation of yours?"
10 The Lord was pleased with Solomon's reply and was glad that he had asked for wisdom. 11 So God replied, "Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people and have not asked for a long life or riches for yourself or the death of your enemies - 12 I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding mind such as no one else has ever had or ever will have! 13 And I will also give you what you did not ask for - riches and honor! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! 14 And if you follow me and obey my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life."
15 Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem ... where he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he invited all his officials to a great banquet.
16 Some time later, two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled.
17 "Please, my lord," one of them began, "this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house. 18 Three days later, she also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house. 19 But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. 20 Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. 21 And in the morning when I tried to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn't my son at all."
22 Then the other woman interrupted, "It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine."
"No," the first woman said, "the dead one is yours, and the living one is mine." And so they argued back and forth before the king.
23 Then the king said, "Let's get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child is yours, and each says that the dead child belongs to the other. 24 All right, bring me a sword." So a sword was brought to the king. 25 Then he said, "Cut the living child in two and give half to each of these women!"
26 Then the woman who really was the mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, "Oh no, my lord! Give her the child - please do not kill him!"But the other woman said, "All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!"
27 Then the king said, "Do not kill him, but give the baby to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!"
28 Word of the king's decision spread quickly throughout all Israel, and the people were awed as they realized the great wisdom God had given him to render decisions with justice.
1 kings chapter 5 (NLT)
1 King Hiram of Tyre had always been a loyal friend of David, so when he learned that David's son Solomon was the new king of Israel, Hiram sent ambassadors to congratulate him. 2 Then Solomon sent this message back to Hiram: 3 "You know that my father, David, was not able to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD his God because of the many wars he waged with surrounding nations. He could not build until the LORD gave him victory over all his enemies. 4 But now the LORD my God has given me peace on every side, and I have no enemies and all is well. 5 So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God, just as he instructed my father that I should do. For the LORD told him, 'Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name.' 6 Now please command that cedars from Lebanon be cut for me. Let my men work alongside yours, and I will pay your men whatever wages you ask. As you know, there is no one among us who can cut timber like you Sidonians!"
7 When Hiram received Solomon's message, he was very pleased and said, "Praise the LORD for giving David a wise son to be king of the great nation of Israel."
1 Kings chapter 6 (NLT)
1 It was in midspring, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign, that he began the construction of the Temple of the LORD. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were delivered from their slavery in the land of Egypt.
2 Chronicles chapter 5 (TEV)
1 When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord-the silver, gold, and other articles.
2 Chronicles chapter 6 (TEV)
12 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar and raised his arms in prayer. 13 (Solomon had made a bronze platform and put it in the middle of the courtyard. It was eight feet square and five feet high. He mounted this platform, knelt down where everyone could see him, and raised his hands toward heaven.) 14 He prayed,
"Lord God of Israel, in all heaven and earth there is no god like you. You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you.
24 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 25 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their ancestors.
26 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 27 O Lord, listen to them in heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession.
28 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 29 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 30 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each of us as we deserve, 31 so that your people may honor you and obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors.
32 "When foreigners who live in a distant land hear how great and powerful you are and how you are always ready to act, and then they come to pray at this Temple, 33 listen to their prayers. In heaven, where you live, hear them and do what they ask you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is where you are to be worshiped.
34 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 35 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory.
36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 37 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 38 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 39 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them and forgive all the sins of your people.
40 "Now, O my God, look on us and listen to the prayers offered in this place.
2 Chronicles chapter 7 (NLT)
11 So Solomon finished building the Temple of the LORD, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do.
12 Then one night the LORD appeared to Solomon and said,
"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. 13 At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or I might command locusts to devour your crops, or I might send plagues among you. 14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.
Proverbs chapter 21 (TEV)
30 Human wisdom, brilliance, insight-they are of no help if the Lord is against you. 31 You can get horses ready for battle, but it is the Lord who gives victory.
1 Kings Chapter 11 (TEV)
1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, 4 and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.
9 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon 11 and said to him, "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son. 13 And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own."
Note:
Modern Western Paganism is devoid of such gruesome practices as child sacrifice and the dedication of girls to the gods as prostitutes. Some Pagans have been slandered by people who imagine that they must be involved in gruesome activities, perhaps because of widespread reports of generational Satanic ritual abuse in which girls are made to breed babies for the purposes of human sacrifice. To find out more about the reports, read the views of a policeman who says there is no physical evidence for such things having happened, and believes the stories to have been invented during harmful therapies: 'Occult Cop' (IPT Journal).
1 Kings Chapter 11 (GWT)
14 The LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite as a rival to Solomon. Hadad was from the Edomite royal family. 15 When David had conquered Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, went to bury those killed in battle and killed every male in Edom. 16 (Joab and all Israel stayed there six months until they had destroyed every male in Edom.) 17 Hadad was a young boy at the time. He and some of his father's Edomite servants fled to Egypt. 18 They left Midian and went to Paran. Taking some men from Paran with them, they went to Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). Pharaoh gave Hadad a home, a food allowance, and land.
19 Pharaoh approved of Hadad. So he gave Hadad his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, to be Hadad's wife. 20 Tahpenes' sister had a son [named] Genubath. Tahpenes presented the boy to Pharaoh in the palace, and Genubath lived in the palace among Pharaoh's children.
21 When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had lain down in death with his ancestors and that Joab, the commander of the army, had died, he said to Pharaoh, "Let me go to my own country."
22 Pharaoh asked him, "What don't you have here that makes you eager to go home?"
"Nothing," he said. "But let me leave anyway."
And he went back to his country. As king of Edom, Hadad was an evil, bitter enemy of Israel.
1 Kings Chapter 11 (TEV)
23 God also caused Rezon son of Eliada to turn against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, 24 and had become the leader of a gang of outlaws. (This happened after David had defeated Hadadezer and had slaughtered his Syrian allies.) Rezon and his gang went and lived in Damascus, where his followers made him king of Syria. 25 He was an enemy of Israel during the lifetime of Solomon.
26 Another man who turned against King Solomon was one of his officials, Jeroboam son of Nebat, from Zeredah in Ephraim. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. 27 This is the story of the revolt.
Solomon was filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem and repairing the city walls. 28 Jeroboam was an able young man, and when Solomon noticed how hard he worked, he put him in charge of all the forced labor in the territory of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim.
29 One day, as Jeroboam was traveling from Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him alone on the road in the open country. 30 Ahijah took off the new robe he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces, 31 and said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, because the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you,
"I am going to take the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes. 32 Solomon will keep one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be my own from the whole land of Israel. 33 I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods: Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon has disobeyed me; he has done wrong and has not kept my laws and commands as his father David did. 34 But I will not take the whole kingdom away from Solomon, and I will keep him in power as long as he lives. This I will do for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who obeyed my laws and commands. 35 I will take the kingdom away from Solomon's son and will give you ten tribes, 36 but I will let Solomon's son keep one tribe, so that I will always have a descendant of my servant David ruling in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as the place where I am worshiped. 37 Jeroboam, I will make you king of Israel, and you will rule over all the territory that you want. 38 If you obey me completely, live by my laws, and win my approval by doing what I command, as my servant David did, I will always be with you. I will make you king of Israel and will make sure that your descendants rule after you, just as I have done for David. 39 Because of Solomon's sin I will punish the descendants of David, but not for all time.' "
40 And so Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon's death.
41 Everything else that Solomon did, his career, and his wisdom, are all recorded in [The History of Solomon.] 42 He was king in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 43 He died and was buried in David's City, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
Proverbs chapter 21 (TEV)
1 The Lord controls the mind of a king as easily as he directs the course of a stream.
1 Kings chapter 12 (TEV)
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all the people of northern Israel had gathered to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had gone to Egypt to escape from King Solomon, heard this news, he returned from Egypt. 3 The people of the northern tribes sent for him, and then they all went together to Rehoboam and said to him, 4 "Your father Solomon treated us harshly and placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be your loyal subjects."
5 "Come back in three days and I will give you my answer," he replied. So they left.
6 King Rehoboam consulted the older men who had served as his father Solomon's advisers. "What answer do you advise me to give these people?" he asked.
7 They replied, "If you want to serve this people well, give a favorable answer to their request, and they will always serve you loyally."
8 But he ignored the advice of the older men and went instead to the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers. 9 "What do you advise me to do?" he asked. "What shall I say to the people who are asking me to make their burdens lighter?"
10 They replied, "This is what you should tell them: "My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!' 11 Tell them, "My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!' "
12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to King Rehoboam, as he had instructed them. 13 The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the people, 14 as the younger men had advised. He said, "My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!" 15 It was the will of the Lord to bring about what he had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. This is why the king did not pay any attention to the people.
16 When the people saw that the king would not listen to them, they shouted, "Down with David and his family! What have they ever done for us? People of Israel, let's go home! Let Rehoboam look out for himself!"
So the people of Israel rebelled, 17 leaving Rehoboam as king only of the people who lived in the territory of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, to go to the Israelites, but they stoned him to death. At this, Rehoboam hurriedly got in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem. 19 Ever since that time the people of the northern kingdom of Israel have been in rebellion against the dynasty of David.
20 When the people of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, they invited him to a meeting of the people and made him king of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to David's descendants.
21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he called together 180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He intended to go to war and restore his control over the northern tribes of Israel. 22 But God told the prophet Shemaiah 23 to give this message to Rehoboam and to all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: 24 "Do not attack your own relatives, the people of Israel. Go home, all of you. What has happened is my will." They all obeyed the Lord's command and went back home.
The next file in this section (Part 3), is entitled: "Disgrace Brought by God on the Kings of Israel, and Victories Against the Odds Over Aggressor Nations for Judah".
If you have found parts of the Old Testament or the Book of Revelation offensive, please read An Attempt to Explain Gruesome Bible Passages.
The selections of Bible quotations have been put together by Diana Holbourn.
Throughout this series, wherever the initials TEV appear, they stand for Today's English Version (The Good News Bible).
Other initials: