with the new ruler, for you are a foreigner and away from your own land.
Yesterday you came, and to-day shall I make you go up and down the land
with us, while I go where I may? Go back and take your men with you, and
may Jehovah show you kindness and faithfulness." But Ittai answered, "As
surely as Jehovah lives and as my lord the ruler of Israel lives,
wherever my lord is, whether dead or living, there your servant will
be!" David said to Ittai, "March on." So Ittai marched on with all his
men and with all the children who were with him.
All the people were weeping aloud while David stood in the Kidron
valley, and they went by before him on the way to the wilderness. And
Zadok and Abiathar came carrying the ark of Jehovah and set it down
until all the people had passed. Then David said to Zadok, "Carry the
ark of God back into the city. If I win Jehovah's favor, he will bring
me back and show me both it and the place where he dwells. But if he
declares, 'I have no trust in you, then here am I, let him do to me as
he thinks best.'" So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to
Jerusalem and stayed there.
But David went up, weeping as he climbed the Mount of Olives with his
head covered and his feet bare. All the people who were with him covered
their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
And when David came to the summit, where one worships God, Hushai the
Archite with his garment torn and earth upon his head, came to meet him.
David said to him, "If you go on with me you will be a burden to me. But
if you go back to the city, and say to Absalom, 'Your brothers have gone
away and your father has gone after them; I will be your servant, O
king; as I have been your father's servant in the past, so now I will be
your servant,' you can defeat for me the advice of Ahithophel. And have
you not there with you Zadok and Abiathar the priests? See, they have
there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan,
Abiathar's son. By them you shall send word to me of everything that you
hear." So Hushai, David's friend, went into the city, when Absalom came
to Jerusalem.
Then David and all the people who were with him, reached the Jordan
tired out, but he refreshed himself there.
And Absalom, with all the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and
Ahithophel was with him. When Hushai, David's friend, came to Absalom,
Hushai said to him, "May the king live, may the king live!" But Absalom
said to Hushai, "Is this your love for your friend? Why did you not go
with your friend?" Hushai answered, "No! to him whom Jehovah and his
people and all the men of Israel have chosen, to him will I belong and
with him will I stay. Also whom should I serve? Should it not be his
son? As I have served your father, so will I serve you."
The advice which Ahithophel gave in those days was thought by David and
Absalom to be the same as if it had come from God himself. And
Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me now pick out twelve thousand men,
and set out and follow David to-night. Thus I will come upon him when he
is tired and weak and will frighten him, and all the people who are with
him will flee. Then I will kill only the king, and I will bring back all
the people to you as the bride turns to her husband. Seek only the life
of one man, and all the people will be at peace." This advice pleased
Absalom and all the leaders of Israel.
Then Absalom said, "Call now Hushai and let us hear also what he has to
say." When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, "Thus Ahithophel
has spoken; shall we act as he advises? If not, you advise us." Then
Hushai said to Absalom, "The advice that Ahithophel has given this time
is not good. You know that your father and his men are mighty warriors
and are now angry, like a bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is also a
soldier and will not stay at night with the people. Even now he has
hidden himself in one of the caves or in some other place. If some of
the people fall at first, whoever hears it will say, 'There is a
slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.' Then even he who is
brave, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will completely lose
courage; for all Israel knows that your father is a great warrior, and
they who are with him are brave men. But I advise, let all the
Israelites be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as many as the
sand that is by the sea, with you yourself marching in the midst of
them. In this way we will come upon him in some place where he will be
found, and we will fall upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of
him and of all the men who are with him not even one shall be left. If
he goes into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and
we will pull it down into the valley, until not even a small stone is
found there."
Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai is better
than the advice of Ahithophel." For Jehovah had planned to defeat the
good advice of Ahithophel, so that Jehovah might bring evil upon
Absalom.
Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "This is what
Ahithophel advised Absalom and the leaders of Israel; and this is what I
advised. So now send quickly and say to David, 'Do not spend this night
at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, for fear
that David and all the people with him be killed.'"
Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at Enrogel; and a maid-servant was
to go and bring them news, and they were to go and tell David, for they
must not be seen coming into the city. But a boy saw them and told
Absalom. Then they both went away quickly and entered into the house of
a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard into which they
descended. The women took and spread the covering over the mouth of the
well, and scattered dried fruit upon it, so that nothing was known. And
when Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and said, "Where
are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" the woman answered, "They have gone over the
brook." When they had searched and could find nothing, they returned to
Jerusalem.
But as soon as the men had gone away, Ahimaaz and Jonathan came up out
of the well, and went and told David and said, "Get up, cross quickly
over the water, for so has Ahithophel advised in regard to you." Then
David and all the people who were with him rose and crossed the Jordan.
By daybreak there was not one left behind.
A BROKEN-HEARTED FATHER
After Absalom and all the men of Israel crossed the Jordan, David
counted the troops who were with him, and put over them commanders of
thousands and of hundreds. And he divided the troops into three
divisions; one was under the command of Joab, another under Abishai, and
another under the command of Ittai. Then David said to the people, "I
too will surely go out with you." But the people said, "You shall not go
out; for if we are defeated, or if half of us die, it will make no
difference, for you are equal to ten thousand of us. It is therefore
more important for you to be ready to help us from the city." David said
to them, "I will do what you think best!" So he stood beside the gate,
while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
David commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, "Deal gently for my sake
with the young man, with Absalom!" All the people heard when he gave the
commanders this order about Absalom.
So the troops went out into the field against Israel. The battle was
fought in the forest of Ephraim. And the soldiers of Israel were
defeated there by those who were loyal to David, and the loss of life on
that day was great--twenty thousand men. The battle spread over the
whole country; and the dense thickets killed more people than were
killed by the sword.
Absalom happened to meet the soldiers of David while riding upon his
mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and
Absalom's head caught fast in the oak, and he was hung between heaven
and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. A certain man saw
it and told Joab, "I saw Absalom hanging in an oak." Joab said to the
man who told him, "You saw him! Why did you not strike him to the
ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt." But the
man said to Joab, "If I were to feel the weight of a thousand pieces of
silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the ruler's son,
for in our hearing he commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, 'Take care of
the young man Absalom.' If I had treacherously taken his life, nothing
would have been hidden from the ruler of Israel, and you yourself would
not have tried to save me." Joab answered, "I will not waste time with
you."
So he took three spears in his hand and drove them into Absalom's heart,
while he was still alive in the midst of the oak. Then Joab said to a
negro slave, "Go, tell the ruler of Israel what you have seen." And the
negro bowed before Joab and ran off.
Now David was sitting between the two gates, and when the negro came, he
said, "Let my lord receive the good news; Jehovah has punished for you
this day all those who rose up against you.'" David said to the negro,
"Is it well with the young Absalom?" The negro answered, "May the
enemies of my lord and all who rebel against you to harm you be as that
young man!"
Then David was very sad and went up to the chamber over the gate and
wept. As he wept he said, "My son Absalom, my son, O my son Absalom! Oh
that I had died for you, Absalom, my son, my son!" And it was reported
to Joab, "The ruler of Israel is weeping and mourning for Absalom." So
for all the people the victory that day was turned to mourning, because
they heard that David was mourning for his son. Therefore, the people
stole away into the city, as people who are ashamed steal away when they
have run away in battle. But David covered his face and cried aloud, "My
son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!"
HOW SOLOMON BECAME THE RULER OF ISRAEL
Now when David was old, Adonijah thought, "I will be ruler of Israel."
So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run
before him. His father, David, had never in his life troubled him by
saying, "Why have you done thus and so?" Adonijah was very good-looking
and was the next younger son after Absalom. He also had made an
agreement with Joab and with Abiathar the priest to help him. But Zadok
the priest and Benaiah and Nathan the prophet, as well as Shimei and Rei
and David's famous warriors, were not on his side.
Adonijah held a feast and killed for it sheep, oxen, and fat beasts by
the Serpent's Stone, which is beside the Fuller's Spring; and he invited
to the feast all his brothers and all the royal officials of Judah; but
he did not invite the prophet Nathan nor Benaiah nor the famous warriors
nor his brother Solomon.
Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, "Have you not heard
that Adonijah has been made ruler without David our lord knowing it?
Now, therefore, let me advise you that you may save your own life and
the life of your son Solomon. Go at once to David and say to him, 'Did
you not, my lord, solemnly promise your servant that Solomon your son
should rule after you? Why then has Adonijah been made ruler?' While you
are still talking with him, I will come in and repeat your words."
So Bathsheba went into David's room; he was very old, and Abishag the
Shunamite was caring for him. When David said, "What do you wish?" she
said to him, "My lord, you solemnly promised your servant by Jehovah:
'Solomon your son shall rule after me.' But now Adonijah has been made
ruler without your knowledge, my lord! Now, my lord, all the Israelites
are looking to you, to tell them who shall rule after you. If you do not
tell them, then, when my lord dies, I and my son Solomon will be treated
as criminals."
While she was still talking with David, Nathan the prophet came in. And
they told David, "Nathan the prophet is here." So he came in and bowed
before David with his face to the ground. Then Nathan said, "My lord,
have you said, 'Adonijah shall rule after me?' For he has gone down this
day and killed many oxen and fat beasts and sheep and has invited all
your sons and the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest; and
there they are eating and drinking before him and saying, 'May the new
ruler Adonijah live!' But he has not invited me, even me your servant,
nor Zadok, the priest, nor Benaiah nor your servant Solomon. If you have
done this, my lord, you have failed to show your servants who is to rule
after my lord."
David answered, "Call Bathsheba to me." So she came in and stood before
him. Then David made this solemn promise; "As surely as Jehovah lives,
who has delivered me from all trouble, as I have solemnly promised to
you by Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, 'Solomon your son shall rule
after me'; so I will certainly do to-day." Then Bathsheba bowed her face
to the earth and said, "May my lord live forever."
Then David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." When they came before him, he said to
them, "Take with you the servants of your lord. Let Solomon my son ride
upon my own mule, bring him down to Gihon, and there let Zadok the
priest and Nathan the prophet make him ruler over Israel and blow the
trumpet and say, 'May Solomon the ruler live!' Then you shall go up
after him, and he shall go in and sit upon my throne, for he shall rule
after me; and I have appointed him to be chief over Israel and Judah."
Benaiah answered David, "So may it be! May Jehovah confirm the words of
my lord. As Jehovah has been with my lord, even so may he be with
Solomon, and may he make his throne greater than the throne of my lord
David!"
Then Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah together with the Philistine
body-guards, went down and put Solomon on David's mule and brought him
to Gihon. Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the tent and
poured oil on Solomon's head, and they blew the trumpet, and all the
people said, "May Solomon live!" Then all the people followed him and
the people played on flutes and rejoiced so loudly that the earth seemed
to be shaken by the sound that they made.
Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it just as they had
finished eating. And they were terrified and each rose up and went away.
But Adonijah in his fear of Solomon went and caught hold of the horns of
the altar. When it was reported to Solomon, "See, Adonijah fears Solomon
the ruler, for he has caught hold of the horns of the altar and says,
'Let Solomon solemnly promise me first that he will not kill his servant
with the sword,'" Solomon said, "If he shall show himself a worthy man,
not one of his hairs shall be touched, but if he is found guilty of
disloyalty, he shall die." So Solomon had him brought from the altar.
And he came and bowed before Solomon the ruler. And Solomon said to him,
"Go to your home."
Then David died and was buried in the City of David, after having ruled
over Israel forty years.
A YOUNG MAN'S WISE CHOICE
Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice there, for that was the
great high place. He offered upon that altar a thousand animals as a
burnt-offering.
In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and said, "Ask
what I shall give you." Solomon said, "Thou hast showed to thy servant
David my father great kindness. Now, O Jehovah my God, thou hast made
thy servant ruler in the place of David my father, although I am but a
child who does not know how to go out or come in. Give thy servant,
therefore, an understanding mind to rule thy people, that I may see
clearly what is good and what is evil; for who is able to rule this thy
great people?"
Jehovah was pleased that Solomon had asked this; and God said to him,
"Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself long life
nor riches nor the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself
understanding to see clearly what is just, I have now granted what you
ask; I have given you a wise and understanding mind. I have also given
you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor." When Solomon
awoke, he found that it was a dream; and he returned to Jerusalem.
Once two women came to Solomon and stood before him. The one woman said,
"Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house. While with her in
the house I had a child. Three days later this woman also had a child,
and we were alone by ourselves in the house. While we two were alone
this woman's child died in the night, because she lay upon it.
"Then she rose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your
servant slept, and laid it on her breast and laid her dead child on
mine. When I rose at dawn to nurse my child, there it was dead; but when
I looked at it closely in the morning, I found that it was not my son."
Then the other woman said, "No; the living is my son, and the dead child
is your son." So they quarrelled before Solomon.
Then Solomon said, "One says, 'This one who is alive is my son, and your
son is dead.' But the other says, 'No; your son is dead, and my son is
the one that is alive.' Bring me a sword." So they brought him a sword.
Then he said, "Divide the living child in two and give half to the one
and half to the other." At that the woman to whom the living child
belonged spoke to Solomon--for she loved her son with all her heart--and
said, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child and on no account put it
to death." But the other said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours!
Divide it!" Then Solomon said, "Give the first woman the living child,
and on no account put it to death; she is its mother."
When all Israel heard of the decision which Solomon had given, they had
great respect for him, for they saw that he had divine wisdom to decide
questions justly.
BUILDING A GREAT TEMPLE
In the fourth year of Solomon's rule over Israel he built the temple of
Jehovah. The temple was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and
forty-five feet high. The porch before the large room of the temple was
thirty feet wide and fifteen feet deep. Solomon made windows for the
temple with casings, broad on the inside and narrow on the outside.
The temple was built with stone which had been made ready at the quarry;
neither hammer nor chisel nor any iron tool was heard while the temple
was building. Against the wall of the temple on the outside Solomon
built wings, both around the larger room and the inner room, and made
side-chambers around the temple.
The entrance to the lower side-chambers was on the south side of the
temple. Winding stairs led to the second floor, and from the second to
the third. Solomon built the wings against the sides of the temple, each
seven and a half feet high; and they were joined to the temple with
timbers of cedar.
He covered the walls of the temple on the inside with boards of cedar
from the floor of the temple to the rafters: and he covered the floor of
the temple with boards of cypress.
He also made a room thirty feet square in the back part of the temple
with boards of cedar reaching from the floor to the rafters. He built it
as an inner room, even as the most holy place. The temple, that is the
large room in front of the inner room, was sixty feet long. And there
was cedar inside the temple with carving in the form of gourds and open
flowers. All was cedar, no stone was seen. Solomon prepared the inner
room as a place for the ark.
In the inner room Solomon made two winged bulls of olive wood. The
height of each was fifteen feet. Each of their wings measured seven and
a half feet across, fifteen feet from the end of one wing to the end of
the other. He set these up in the inner room of the temple; and their
wings were stretched out so that the wing of the one touched the one
wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their
wings touched each other in the middle of the temple; and he covered
them with gold.
Then Solomon gathered in Jerusalem the leaders of Israel to bring up the
ark of Jehovah out of Zion, the City of David, at the time of the autumn
festival in September. When all the leaders of Israel had come, the
priests took up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred
vessels that were in the tent. So the priests brought in the ark of
Jehovah to its place in the inner room of the temple under the wings of
the winged bulls. There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of
stone which Moses put there at Horeb. And when the priests came out from
the inner room, the cloud filled the temple of Jehovah, so that the
priests could not stand and perform their service on account of the
cloud, for the glory of Jehovah filled his temple.
Then Solomon said:
"Jehovah has set the sun in the heavens,
But has said that he will dwell in thick darkness.
So I have built thee a temple as a lofty dwelling,
A place for thee to abide in forever."
As Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the
assembly of Israel, he spread out his hands toward heaven and said, "O
Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above or
on earth beneath, who keepest thy solemn agreement and showest kindness
to thy servants who serve thee whole-heartedly, who hast kept with thy
servant David my father the promise that thou didst make to him.
"But will God actually dwell on earth? Indeed heaven and the highest
heaven cannot hold thee; how much less this temple that I have built!"
A RULER WHO WRONGED HIS PEOPLE
Solomon was building his palace thirteen years before he finished it. He
also built the throne-hall where he judged the people. This room was
the Hall of Judgment; and it was covered with cedar from floor to
ceiling.
His palace where he lived, in another court farther in from the Hall of
Judgment, was of the same workmanship. He made a palace, too, similar to
this hall, for Pharaoh's daughter whom he had married. All these
buildings were of costly stones, hewn according to measurements, sawed
with saws, both on the inside and outside.
Solomon also gathered together chariots and horsemen; he had one
thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen that he
placed in the chariot cities and with him at Jerusalem. And Solomon had
twelve officers over all Israel who provided food for him and for his
household: each man had to provide food for a month in the year.
When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test
him with puzzling questions. So she came to Jerusalem with a very large
number of servants, with camels that carried spices and a great amount
of gold and precious stones. As soon as she came to Solomon, she told
him all that was in her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions:
nothing was too difficult for him to answer.
When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace
that he had built, the food on his table, the housing of his officers,
the way his waiters served him, their clothing, his cup-bearers, and the
burnt-offering which he offered at the temple of Jehovah, she was
greatly surprised. She said to Solomon, "What I heard in my own land of
your acts and of your wisdom was true. But I would not believe the words
until I came and saw with my own eyes; but as it is, the half was not
told me; your wisdom and prosperity are even greater than what was
reported to me."
Now Solomon loved women; and he married many foreign wives--Moabites,
Canaanites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hittites, and Ammonites. He had seven
hundred wives of princely birth, and three hundred concubines. When
Solomon was old, his wives influenced him to worship other gods, and he
was not loyal to Jehovah his God. Solomon built a place of worship for
Chemosh, the god of Moab, on the hill that is opposite Jerusalem, and
for Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his
foreign wives, burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.
Then God raised up as a foe against him Rezon, the son of Eliada, who
had fled from his master, Hadadezer, king of Zobah. He gathered men
about him and became commander of a robber band, and he went to Damascus
and lived and reigned there. He was a foe to Israel as long as Solomon
lived.
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was a man of great ability. When Solomon saw
that the young man was industrious, he placed him over all the men of
the tribe of Joseph who were working for the ruler.
Once upon a time, when Jeroboam went away from Jerusalem, the prophet
Ahijah of Shiloh met him on the way and took him aside. Now Ahijah had
put on a new garment, and while they two were alone in the field, Ahijah
took hold of the new garment he had on and tore it in twelve pieces.
Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces; for Jehovah,
the God of Israel, declares, 'I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of
Solomon and will give ten tribes to you, but he shall have only one
tribe.'" So Jeroboam also rebelled against Solomon.
Solomon, therefore, wanted to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled
to Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.