If they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost amict

them:

27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or eaterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore, or whatsoever sickness there be :

29 Then what prayer, or what supplication soever shall be made. of any man, or of al: thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men ;)

31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

32 Moreover, concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched-out arm; if they come and pray in this house:

33 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwellingplace, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house, which I have built, is called by thy name.

34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy

name;

35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near: 37 Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

38 If they return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

39 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwellingplace, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause,

Acts, vii. 49.-Ver. 26. 1 Kings, x. ii. J. Ver. 41. Ps. cxxxii. 8-16.

and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy

for ever.

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.

5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

6 And the priests waited on their offices; the Levites also with instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

7 Moreover, Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt-offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat.

of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.

12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a by-word among all nations.

21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus anto this land, and unto this house?

22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

CHAPTER VIII.

9 And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

10 And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house

Ver. 1. 1 Kings, viii. 54; Levit. ix. 24; Judges, vi. 21; 1 Kings, xviii. 38; I Chron. xxi. 26; 1 Kings, viii. 10, 11. Ver. 3. 1 Chron. xvi. 41. Ver. 4. I Kings, viii. 62-66. Ver. 11.

of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

3 And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store-cities which he built in Hamath.

5 Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

1 Kings, ix. 14. Ver. 19. Leviticus, xxvi. 14-33; Deut. xxviii. 15; xxxvi. 37. Ver. 21. Deut. xxix. 24; Jer. xxii. 8, 9.

Ver. 1. 1 Kings, ix. 10-24.Ver. 2. It would seem from this, that Hiram being displeased with the cities given him by Solomon,

6 And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot-cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

7 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,

8 But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

9 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

12 Then Solomon offered burnt-offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch;

13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new-moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites, concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished: so the house of the LORD was perfected.

17 Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea-side in the land of Edom.

18 And Huram sent him, by the hands of his servants, ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

AN

CHAPTER IX.

ND when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with

had restored them, and that Solomon then rebuilt them. - Ver. 11. 1 Kings, ii. 1-7; viii. 9-24.Ver. 13. Exod. xix. 38; xxiii. 14; Deut. xvi. 16.-Ver. 14. 1 Chron. xxiv. 1; xxv. 1; ix. 17; xxvi. 1. - Ver. 18. 2 Kings, xiv. 22.

hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels. that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

2 And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.

3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

4 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cup-bearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

5 And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

6 Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

7 Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

8 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them. for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

9 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon."

of

10 And the servants also Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum-trees, and precious stones.

11 And the king made of the algum-trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her

servants.

18 And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays.

19 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.

20 And all the drinking-vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

21 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

22 And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

24 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, har. ness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the chariotcities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

26 And he reigned over all the kings, from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

27 And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedartrees made be as the sycamoretrees that are in the low plains in abundance.

28 And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

31 And Solomon slept with his fathers; and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

CHAPTER X.

was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

14 Besides that which chapmen and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia, and governors of the country, brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 And king, Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

16 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

17 Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

Ver. 1. 1 Kings, x. 1; Matth. xii. 42; Luke, xi. 31. Ver. 25. 1 Kings, iv. 26; x. 26-28. - Ver.

chem for to Shechem were all Israel come to make him king.

2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat (who was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon the king) heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.

8 And they sent and called him: so Jeroboam and all Israel came, and spake to Rehoboam, saying,

4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

5 And he said unto them, Come

26. 1 Kings, iv. 21. From the river: that is, from the Euphrates -Ver. 29. 1 Kings, i. 29-41. Ver. 1. 1 tings, xii. 1. Ver.

again unto me after three days. And the people departed.

6 And king Rehoboam took eounsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?

7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.

8 But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him.

9 And he said unto them, What advice give ye, that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us?

10 And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto hin, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

11 For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.

13 And the king answered them roughly and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men,

14 And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

15 So the king hearkened not ento the people: for the cause was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse ; every ran to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thine own. house. So all Israel went to their tents.

17 But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

IS Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram, that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died: but king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

19 And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

CHAPTER XI.

AND when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors,

15. 1 Sam. ii. 25; 1 Kings, xii. 13-24 xi. 29.

to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

4 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren return every man to his house; for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.

6 He built even Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

7 And Beth-zur, and Shoco, and Adullam,

8 And Gath, and Mareshan, and Ziph,

9 And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

10 And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities.

11 And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.

12 And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts.

14 (For the Levites left their suburbs, and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:

15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which be had made.)

16 And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel, came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

18 And Rehoboam took him Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, to wife, and Abihail, the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse ;

19 Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.

20 And after her he took Maachah, the daughter of Absalom, which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

Ver 1. 1 Kings, xii. 21.-Ver. 14. Num. xxxv. 2. Ver. 15. 1 Kings, xii. 31; xiii. 33; xiv. 9; Hos. xiii. 2; Levit. xvii. 7. The idols of the heathen were receptacles of devils: it was thence that they uttered their false prophecies; and that they exercised their pernicious power over the besotted and terrified multitude.-Ver. 20. 1 Kings, xv. 2. She is there called Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel; as she is also in chap. xiii. verse 2, of the present book. The Absalom here mentioned was not the son of David, who had only one daughter,

21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.

23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city; and he gave them victual in abundance: and he desired many wives. CHAPTER XIL

AND it came to

pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.

2 And it came to pass, that, in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,

3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen : and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.

4 And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.

5 Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

6 Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righte

ous.

7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants: that they may know my

See 2 Sam. xiv. 27; and many persons in Scripture are mentioned under two names.- Ver. 22. Rehoboam selected Abijah as his successor, either because he was the eldest of his sons, because of his abilities, or on account of his fondness for Maacha above the rest of his wives. Ver. 23. And he dealt wisely: that is, with policy and prudence; for by this measure he found occupation for his sons, and prevented their forming cabals against his government.

Ver. 1. Kings, xiv. 22-24. The commencement of Rehoboam's ruin is here related. Presumptuously trusting to the power he had acquired by the united exercise of policy and violence, he forgot the origin of his kingdom and the foundation on which his family had risen into greatness. The sin and error into which he thus plunged, exposed him to the darts of the Almighty, and his history affords an impressive warning to all who, in the pride of their hearts, imagine they can be safe, however strengthened, if they forsake the law of God. Ver. 8. Isa. xxvi,

service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

10 Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house.

11 And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guardchamber.

12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.

13 So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned; for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began. to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there and his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

14 And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.

15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

CHAPTER XIII. NOW, in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.

2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem: (his mother's naine also was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah :) and there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

3 And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant inen of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.

4 And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;

Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

13. Shall be his servants: that is, shall be tributary to him.-Ver. 15. The nature of these books. has been already mentioned.-Ver. 16. 1 Kings, xiv. 31.

Ver. 1. 1 Kings, xv. 1.-Ver. 2. See chap. xi. 20. Ver. 5. By a covenant of salt. This is either said figuratively, as signifying a covenant which could not be broken salt being a sign of purity and durability; or it is said with reference to the sacrifice which was offered up at the making of the covenant-every sacrifice being salted with salt, by an express command of the law; see Numb. xviii. 19 and Levit. i. 13; I Kings, xii. 28-31.

8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.

9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

10 But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:

11 And they burn unto the LORD, every morning and every evening, burnt-sacrifices and sweet incense: the shew-bread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold, with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.

12 And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you.

O children

of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

13 But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.

14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.

15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.

17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers.

19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him; Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns. thereof, and Ephraim with the towns thereof.

3.

20 Neither did Jeroboam recover

-Ver. 11. The pure table: that is, the table covered with pure gold, on which the shew-bread was placed; See Exod. xxv. 23. and Levit. xxiv. Ver. 12. Numb. x. 8. - Ver. 18. Thus merciful was God to Judah, whenever it manifested a disposition to turn to him for pardon and salvation. Ver. 20. 1 Kings, xiv. 20.

strength again in the days of Abijah and the LORD stfuck him, and he died.

21 But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wires, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

CHAPTER XIV.

SO Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves;

4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

6 And he built fenced cities in Judah for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.

7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side so they built and prospered.

8 And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thou sand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

94 And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian, with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.

10 Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathab at Mareshah.

11 And Asa cried unto the Lond his God, and said, LoRD, it is no thing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

12 So the LORD Smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah: and the Ethiopians fled.

13 And Asa, and the people that were with him, pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not

Ver. 1. I Kings, xv. 8. - Ver. 9. Josh. xv. 44. Ver. 11. God can work as well without, as with means; and, when he chooses to employ those which are more proportionable to the execution of a design than others, he does so, to prevent the minds of men from looking for results without sufficient causes the whole structure of the human intellect, and of the system under which we live, being framed according to the law which inseparably unites causes and effects.

recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host: and they carried away very much spoil.

14 And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them and they spoiled all the cities; for there. was exceeding much spoil in them.

15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

CHAPTER XV.

AND the Spirit of God came upon

Azariah the son of Oded:

2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and ail Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true Go, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

4 But when they in their trouble. did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found

of them.

5 And in those times there was to peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.

6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.

7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands he weak; for your work shall be rewarded.

8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD that was before the porch of the LORD.

9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: (for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him:)

10 30 they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

11 And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand sheep.

12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul;

13 That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

14 And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with

cornets.

15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.

Ver. 2. This is the lesson of the Holy Spirit at all times, and under all circumstances; see James, iv. 8. -Ver. 13. Exod. xxii. 20. Deut. xiii. 515. Ver. 16. 1 Kings,

16 And also concerning Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt if at the brook Kidron.

17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

CHAPTER XVI.

N the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD, and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

3 There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from

me.

4 And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains. of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-maim, and all the store-cities of Naphtali.

5 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work

cease.

6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was a building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine haud.

8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand.

9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth. to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

v. 2-10. Maachah, the mother of Asa. Manchah was the grandmother of Asa; or there might be two, a mother and daughter, of the

same name.

Ver. 1. 1 Kings, xv. 17. The six and thirty years are supposed to be reckoned from the establishment of the separate kingiom of Judah, and not from the commencement of Asa's personal reign, for Baasha died in the twenty-seventh year of that monarch's government; see 1 Kings, xv. 33. Ver. 9. The heart of Asa is said, in the preceding chapter, to have been per

10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prisonhouse; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

11 And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

12 And Asa, in the thirty and ninth year of his reign, was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.

13 And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.

14 And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds. of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art; and they made a very great burning for him.

CHAPTER XVII.

AND Jehoshaphat his son reigned his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel.

2 And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

3 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;

4 But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.

5 Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.

6 And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover, he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.

7 Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Ben-hall, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah.

8 And with them he sent Levites, eren Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adoijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests.

9 And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.

10 And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Je hoshaphat.

11 Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and tribute-silver; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred hegoats.

12 ༈ And Jehoshaphat waxed fect al his days. This expression is supposed to have referred only to his freedom from idolatry, and not to his general conduct. - Ver. 11. 1 Kings, xv. 23.

5.

Ver. 1. 1 Kings, xv. 21.-Ver. 1 Sam. x. 27; 1 Kings, . 27.