May 2nd

Switch to King James Version

(The Message)

1 Kings 12

1 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem where all Israel had gathered to inaugurate him as king. 2Jeroboam had been in Egypt, where he had taken asylum from King Solomon; when he got the report of Solomon's death he had come back. 3 Rehoboam assembled Jeroboam and all the people. They said to Rehoboam, 4 "Your father made life hard for us - worked our fingers to the bone. Give us a break; lighten up on us and we'll willingly serve you." 5 "Give me three days to think it over, then come back," Rehoboam said. 6 King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: "What's your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?" 7 They said, "If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they'll end up doing anything for you." 8 But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he'd grown up with who were now currying his favor, 9 "What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, 'Give us a break from your father's harsh ways - lighten up on us'?" 10 The young turks he'd grown up with said, "These people who complain, 'Your father was too hard on us; lighten up' - well, tell them this: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. 11 If you think life under my father was hard, you haven't seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I'll beat you bloody with chains!'" 12 Three days later Jeroboam and the people showed up, just as Rehoboam had directed when he said, "Give me three days to think it over, then come back." 13The king's answer was harsh and rude. He spurned the counsel of the elders 14 and went with the advice of the younger set, "If you think life under my father was hard, you haven't seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I'll beat you bloody with chains!" 15 Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. God was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh. 16 When all Israel realized that the king hadn't listened to a word they'd said, they stood up to him and said, Get lost, David! We've had it with you, son of Jesse! Let's get out of here, Israel, and fast! From now on, David, mind your own business. 17 But Rehoboam continued to rule those who lived in the towns of Judah. 18 When King Rehoboam next sent out Adoniram, head of the workforce, the Israelites ganged up on him, pelted him with stones, and killed him. King Rehoboam jumped in his chariot and fled to Jerusalem as fast as he could. 19 Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic regime ever since. Jeroboam of Israel 20 When the word was out that Jeroboam was back and available, the assembled people invited him and inaugurated him king over all Israel. The only tribe left to the Davidic dynasty was Judah. 21 When Rehoboam got back to Jerusalem, he called up the men of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand of their best soldiers, to go to war against Israel and recover the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon. 22 At this time the word of God came to Shemaiah, a man of God: 23 "Tell this to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, along with everyone in Judah and Benjamin and anyone else who is around: 24 This is God's word: Don't march out; don't fight against your brothers the Israelites; go back home, every last one of you; I'm in charge here." And they did it; they did what God said and went home. 25Jeroboam made a fort at Shechem in the hills of Ephraim, and made that his headquarters. He also built a fort at Penuel. 26 But then Jeroboam thought, "It won't be long before the kingdom is reunited under David. 27 As soon as these people resume worship at The Temple of God in Jerusalem, they'll start thinking of Rehoboam king of Judah as their ruler. They'll then kill me and go back to King Rehoboam." 28 So the king came up with a plan: He made two golden calves. Then he announced, "It's too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Look at these - the gods who brought you out of Egypt!" 29 He put one calf in Bethel; the other he placed in Dan.30 This was blatant sin. Think of it - people traveling all the way to Dan to worship a calf! 31 And that wasn't the end of it. Jeroboam built forbidden shrines all over the place and recruited priests from wherever he could find them, regardless of whether they were fit for the job or not. 32 To top it off, he created a holy New Year festival to be held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month to replace the one in Judah, complete with worship offered on the Altar at Bethel and sacrificing before the calves he had set up there. He staffed Bethel with priests from the local shrines he had made. 33 This was strictly his own idea to compete with the feast in Judah; and he carried it off with flair, a festival exclusively for Israel, Jeroboam himself leading the worship at the Altar.

1 Kings 13

1 And then this happened: Just as Jeroboam was at the Altar, about to make an offering, a holy man came from Judah by God's command 2 and preached (these were God's orders) to the Altar: "Altar, Altar! God's message! 'A son will be born into David's family named Josiah. The priests from the shrines who are making offerings on you, he will sacrifice - on you! Human bones burned on you!'" 3 At the same time he announced a sign: "This is the proof God gives - the Altar will split into pieces and the holy offerings spill into the dirt." 4 When the king heard the message the holy man preached against the Altar at Bethel, he reached out to grab him, yelling, "Arrest him!" But his arm was paralyzed and hung useless. 5 At the same time the Altar broke apart and the holy offerings all spilled into the dirt - the very sign the holy man had announced by God's command. 6The king pleaded with the holy man, "Help me! Pray to your God for the healing of my arm." The holy man prayed for him and the king's arm was healed - as good as new! 7 Then the king invited the holy man, "Join me for a meal; I have a gift for you." 8 The holy man told the king, "Not on your life! You couldn't pay me enough to get me to sit down with you at a meal in this place. 9 I'm here under God's orders, and he commanded, 'Don't eat a crumb, don't drink a drop, and don't go back the way you came.'" 10 Then he left by a different road than the one on which he had walked to Bethel. 11 There was an old prophet who lived in Bethel. His sons came and told him the story of what the holy man had done that day in Bethel, told him everything that had happened and what the holy man had said to the king. 12 Their father said, "Which way did he go?" His sons pointed out the road that the holy man from Judah had taken. 13 He told his sons, "Saddle my donkey." When they had saddled it, he got on 14 and rode after the holy man. He found him sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, "Are you the holy man who came from Judah?" "Yes, I am," he said. 15"Well, come home with me and have a meal." 16 "Sorry, I can't do that," the holy man said. "I can neither go back with you nor eat with you in this country. 17 I'm under strict orders from God: 'Don't eat a crumb; don't drink a drop; and don't come back the way you came.'" 18 But he said, "I am also a prophet, just like you. And an angel came to me with a message from God: 'Bring him home with you, and give him a good meal!'" But the man was lying. 19 So the holy man went home with him and they had a meal together. 20 There they were, sitting at the table together, when the word of God came to the prophet who had brought him back. 21 He confronted the holy man who had come from Judah: "God's word to you: You disobeyed God's command; you didn't keep the strict orders your God gave you; 22 you came back and sat down to a good meal in the very place God told you, 'Don't eat a crumb; don't drink a drop.' For that you're going to die far from home and not be buried in your ancestral tomb." 23 When the meal was over, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 Down the road a way, a lion met him and killed him. His corpse lay crumpled on the road, the lion on one side and the donkey on the other. 25Some passersby saw the corpse in a heap on the road, with the lion standing guard beside it. They went to the village where the old prophet lived and told what they had seen. 26 When the prophet who had gotten him off track heard it, he said, "It's the holy man who disobeyed God's strict orders. God turned him over to the lion who knocked him around and killed him, just as God had told him." 27 The prophet told his sons, "Saddle my donkey." They did it. 28 He rode out and found the corpse in a heap in the road, with the lion and the donkey standing there. The lion hadn't bothered either the corpse or the donkey. 29 The old prophet loaded the corpse of the holy man on his donkey and returned it to his own town to give it a decent burial. 30 He placed the body in his own tomb. The people mourned, saying, "A sad day, brother!" 31 After the funeral, the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the same tomb where the holy man is buried, my bones alongside his bones. 32 The message that he preached by God's command against the Altar at Bethel and against all the sex-and-religion shrines in the towns of Samaria will come true."33 After this happened, Jeroboam kept right on doing evil, recruiting priests for the forbidden shrines indiscriminately - anyone who wanted to could be a priest at one of the local shrines. 34This was the root sin of Jeroboam's government. And it was this that ruined him.

morning reading

evening reading

Please join us for our weekly broadcasts 7pm mondays and thursdays on ustream

Book Heaven Help Us Ministries Robert Williams Christian Speaker & gospel singer for your next event

May 1st

Switch to King James Version

(The Message)

1 Kings 10; 

1 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon and his connection with the Name of God. She came to put his reputation to the test by asking tough questions. 2 She made a grand and showy entrance into Jerusalem - camels loaded with spices, a huge amount of gold, and precious gems. She came to Solomon and talked about all the things that she cared about, emptying her heart to him. 3 Solomon answered everything she put to him - nothing stumped him. 4 When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon's wisdom and saw with her own eyes the palace he had built, 5 the meals that were served, the impressive array of court officials and sharply dressed waiters, the lavish crystal, and the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt-Offerings at the steps leading up to The Temple of God, it took her breath away. 6 She said to the king, "It's all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. 7 I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself; they didn't exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance - far more than I could ever have imagined. 8 Lucky the men and women who work for you, getting to be around you every day and hear your wise words firsthand! 9 And blessed be God, your God, who took such a liking to you and made you king. Clearly, God's love for Israel is behind this, making you king to keep a just order and nurture a God-pleasing people."10 She then gave the king four and a half tons of gold, and also sack after sack of spices and expensive gems. There hasn't been a cargo of spices like that since that shipload the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon. 11 The ships of Hiram also imported gold from Ophir along with tremendous loads of fragrant sandalwood and expensive gems. 12 The king used the sandalwood for fine cabinetry in The Temple of God and the palace complex, and for making harps and dulcimers for the musicians. Nothing like that shipment of sandalwood has been seen since. 13King Solomon for his part gave the queen of Sheba all her heart's desire - everything she asked for, on top of what he had already so generously given her. Satisfied, she returned home with her train of servants. 14 Solomon received twenty-five tons of gold in tribute annually. 15 This was above and beyond the taxes and profit on trade with merchants and assorted kings and governors. 16 King Solomon crafted two hundred body-length shields of hammered gold - seven and a half pounds of gold to each shield 17 - and three hundred smaller shields about half that size. He stored the shields in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 18 The king built a massive throne of ivory accented with a veneer of gold. 19 The throne had six steps leading up to it, its back shaped like an arch. The armrests on each side were flanked by lions. 20 Lions, twelve of them, were placed at either end of the six steps. There was no throne like it in any of the surrounding kingdoms. 21 King Solomon's chalices and tankards were made of gold and all the dinnerware and serving utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold - nothing was made of silver; silver was considered common and cheap. 22 The king had a fleet of ocean-going ships at sea with Hiram's ships. Every three years the fleet would bring in a cargo of gold, silver, and ivory, and apes and peacocks. 23 King Solomon was wiser and richer than all the kings of the earth - he surpassed them all. 24 People came from all over the world to be with Solomon and drink in the wisdom God had given him. 25 And everyone who came brought gifts - artifacts of gold and silver, fashionable robes and gowns, the latest in weapons, exotic spices, and horses and mules - parades of visitors, year after year. 26 Solomon collected chariots and horses: fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses! He stabled them in the special chariot cities as well as in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common as rocks and cedar as common as the fig trees in the lowland hills. 28 His horses were brought in from Egypt and Cilicia, specially acquired by the king's agents. 29 Chariots from Egypt went for fifteen pounds of silver and a horse for about three and three-quarter pounds of silver. Solomon carried on a brisk horse-trading business with the Hittite and Aramean royal houses.

1 Kings 11

1 King Solomon was obsessed with women. Pharaoh's daughter was only the first of the many foreign women he loved - Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite. 2 He took them from the surrounding pagan nations of which God had clearly warned Israel, "You must not marry them; they'll seduce you into infatuations with their gods." Solomon fell in love with them anyway, refusing to give them up. 3 He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines - a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God. 4 As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful - he didn't stay true to his God as his father David had done. 5 Solomon took up with Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon openly defied God; he did not follow in his father David's footsteps. 7 He went on to build a sacred shrine to Chemosh, the horrible god of Moab, and to Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites, on a hill just east of Jerusalem. 8 He built similar shrines for all his foreign wives, who then polluted the countryside with the smoke and stench of their sacrifices. 9 God was furious with Solomon for abandoning the God of Israel, the God who had twice appeared to him 10 and had so clearly commanded him not to fool around with other gods. Solomon faithlessly disobeyed God's orders. 11 God said to Solomon, "Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I'm going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. 12 But out of respect for your father David I won't do it in your lifetime. It's your son who will pay - I'll rip it right out of his grasp. 13 Even then I won't take it all; I'll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem." 14 God incited Hadad, a descendant of the king of Edom, into hostile actions against Solomon. 15 Years earlier, when David devastated Edom, Joab, commander of the army, on his way to bury the dead, massacred all the men of Edom. 16 Joab and his army stayed there for six months, making sure they had killed every man in Edom. 17 Hadad, just a boy at the time, had escaped with some of the Edomites who had worked for his father. 18 Their escape route took them through Midian to Paran. They picked up some men in Paran and went on to Egypt and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house, food, and even land. 19 Pharaoh liked him so well that he gave him the sister of his wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 20 She bore Hadad a son named Genubath who was raised like one of the royal family. Genubath grew up in the palace with Pharaoh's children. 21 While living in Egypt, Hadad heard that both David and Joab, commander of the army, were dead. He approached Pharaoh and said, "Send me off with your blessing - I want to return to my country." 22 "But why?" said Pharaoh. "Why would you want to leave here? Hasn't everything been to your liking?" "Everything has been just fine," said Hadad, "but I want to go home - give me a good send-off!" 23Then God incited another adversary against Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had deserted from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 After David's slaughter of the Arameans, Rezon collected a band of outlaws and became their leader. They later settled in Damascus, where Rezon eventually took over as king. 25 Like Hadad, Rezon was a thorn in Israel's side all of Solomon's life. He was king over Aram, and he hated Israel. 26 And then, the last straw: Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was an Ephraimite from Zeredah, his mother a widow named Zeruah. He served in Solomon's administration. 27 This is why he rebelled. Solomon had built the outer defense system (the Millo) and had restored the fortifications that were in disrepair from the time of his father David. 28 Jeroboam stood out during the construction as strong and able. When Solomon observed what a good worker he was, he put the young man in charge of the entire workforce of the tribe of Joseph. 29 One day Jeroboam was walking down the road out of Jerusalem. Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh, wearing a brand-new cloak, met him. The two of them were alone on that remote stretch of road. 30 Ahijah took off the new cloak that he was wearing and ripped it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten of these pieces for yourself; this is by order of the God of Israel: See what I'm doing - I'm ripping the kingdom out of Solomon's hands and giving you ten of the tribes. 32 In honor of my servant David and out of respect for Jerusalem, the city I especially chose, he will get one tribe. 33 And here's the reason: He faithlessly abandoned me and went off worshiping Ashtoreth goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh god of the Moabites, and Molech god of the Ammonites. He hasn't lived the way I have shown him, hasn't done what I have wanted, and hasn't followed directions or obeyed orders as his father David did. 34 "Still, I won't take the whole kingdom away from him. I'll stick with him through his lifetime because of my servant David whom I chose and who did follow my directions and obey my orders. 35 But after that I'll remove the kingdom from his son's control and give you ten tribes.36 I'll leave one tribe to his son, to maintain a witness to my servant David in Jerusalem, the city I chose as a memorial to my Name. 37 "But I have taken you in hand. Rule to your heart's content! You are to be the king of Israel. 38 If you listen to what I tell you and live the way I show you and do what pleases me, following directions and obeying orders as my servant David did, I'll stick with you no matter what. I'll build you a kingdom as solid as the one I built for David. Israel will be yours!39 I am bringing pain and trouble on David's descendants, but the trials won't last forever." 40Solomon ordered the assassination of Jeroboam, but he got away to Egypt and found asylum there with King Shishak. He remained in exile there until Solomon died. 41 The rest of Solomon's life and rule, his work and his wisdom, you can read for yourself in The Chronicles of Solomon. 42Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 43 He died and was buried in the City of David his father. His son Rehoboam was the next king.

morning reading

evening reading

Please join us for our weekly broadcasts 7pm mondays and thursdays on ustream

Book Heaven Help Us Ministries Robert Williams Christian Speaker & gospel singer for your next event

Apr 30th

Switch to King James Version

(The Message)

1 Kings 8

1 Bringing all this to a climax, King Solomon called in the leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the family patriarchs, to bring up the Chest of the Covenant of God from Zion, the City of David. 2 And they came, all Israel before King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month, for the great autumn festival. 3 With all Israel's leaders present, the priests took up the Chest of God 4 and carried up the Chest and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that went with the Tent. 5 King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel were there at the Chest worshiping and sacrificing huge numbers of sheep and cattle - so many that no one could keep track. 6 Then the priests brought the Chest of the Covenant of God to its place in the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. 7 The outspread wings of the cherubim stretched over the Chest and its poles. 8 The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable farther out. They're still there today. 9 There was nothing in the Chest but the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb where God made a covenant with Israel after bringing them up from Egypt. The Temple Finished, Dedicated, Filled 10 When the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled The Temple of God. 11 The priests couldn't carry out their priestly duties because of the cloud - the glory of God filled The Temple of God! 12 Then Solomon spoke: God has told us that he lives in the dark where no one can see him; 13 I've built this splendid Temple, O God, to mark your invisible presence forever. 14 The king then turned to face the congregation and blessed them: 15"Blessed be God, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David. Now he has kept the promise he made when he said, 16 'From the day I brought my people Israel from Egypt, I haven't set apart one city among the tribes of Israel to build a Temple to fix my Name there. But I did choose David to rule my people Israel.' 17 "My father David had it in his heart to build a Temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel. 18 But God told him 'It was good that you wanted to build a Temple in my honor - most commendable! 19 But you are not the one to do it - your son will build it to honor my Name.' 20 "God has done what he said he would do: I have succeeded David my father and ruled over Israel just as God promised; and now I've built a Temple to honor God, the God of Israel, 21 and I've secured a place for the Chest that holds the covenant of God, the covenant that he made with our ancestors when he brought them up from the land of Egypt."22 Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took a position before the Altar, spread his hands out before heaven, 23 and prayed, 24 You kept your word to David my father, your personal word. You did exactly what you promised - every detail. The proof is before us today! 25Keep it up, God, O God of Israel! Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, "You'll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel's throne, on the condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have." 26 God of Israel, let this all happen; confirm and establish it! 27 Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn't large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I've built. 28 Even so, I'm bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I'm setting before you right now. 29 Keep your eyes open to this Temple night and day, this place of which you said, "My Name will be honored there," 30 and listen to the prayers that I pray at this place. Listen from your home in heaven and when you hear, forgive. 31 When someone hurts a neighbor and promises to make things right, and then comes and repeats the promise before your Altar in this Temple, 32 listen from heaven and act accordingly: Judge your servants, making the offender pay for his offense and setting the offended free of any charges. 33 When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy because they've sinned against you, but then turn to you and acknowledge your rule in prayers desperate and devout in this Temple, 34 Listen from your home in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, return them to the land you gave their ancestors. 35 When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quitting their sins because you have scourged them, 36 isten from your home in heaven, forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Then start over with them: Train them to live right and well; send rain on the land you gave your people as an inheritance. 37 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses - calamity of any sort 38 - any prayer that's prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, hearts penetrated by the disaster, hands and arms thrown out to this Temple for help, 39 Listen from your home in heaven.40 so that they'll live before you in lifelong reverent and believing obedience on this land you gave our ancestors. 41 And don't forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation. 42 People are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonder-working power, who come to pray at this Temple. 43Listen from your home in heaven. Honor the prayers of the foreigner so that people all over the world will know who you are and what you're like and will live in reverent obedience before you, just as your own people Israel do; so they'll know that you personally make this Temple that I've built what it is. 44 When your people go to war against their enemies at the time and place you send them and they pray to God toward the city you chose and this Temple I've built to honor your Name, 45 Listen from heaven to what they pray and ask for, and do what's right for them. 46When they sin against you - and they certainly will; there's no one without sin! - and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken captive to the enemy's land, whether far or near,47 but repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, "We've sinned; we've done wrong; we've been most wicked," 48 and turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name, 49 isten from your home in heaven to their prayers desperate and devout and do what is best for them. 50 Forgive your people who have sinned against you; forgive their gross rebellions and move their captors to treat them with compassion. 51 They are, after all, your people and your precious inheritance whom you rescued from the heart of that iron-smelting furnace, Egypt!52 O be alert and attentive to the needy prayers of me, your servant, and your dear people Israel; listen every time they cry out to you! 53 You handpicked them from all the peoples on earth to be your very own people, as you announced through your servant Moses when you, O God, in your masterful rule, delivered our ancestors from Egypt. 54 Having finished praying to God - all these bold and passionate prayers - Solomon stood up before God's Altar where he had been kneeling all this time, his arms stretched upward to heaven. 55 Standing, he blessed the whole congregation of Israel, blessing them at the top of his lungs: 56 "Blessed be God, who has given peace to his people Israel just as he said he'd do. Not one of all those good and wonderful words that he spoke through Moses has misfired. 57 May God, our very own God, continue to be with us just as he was with our ancestors - may he never give up and walk out on us. 58 May he keep us centered and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors. 59 "And let these words that I've prayed in the presence of God be always right there before him, day and night, so that he'll do what is right for me, to guarantee justice for his people Israel day after day after day. 60 Then all the people on earth will know God is the true God; there is no other God. 61 And you, your lives must be totally obedient to God, our personal God, following the life path he has cleared, alert and attentive to everything he has made plain this day." 62 The king and all Israel with him then worshiped, offering sacrifices to God. 63 Solomon offered Peace-Offerings, sacrificing to God twenty-two thousand cattle, a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. This is how the king and all Israel dedicated The Temple of God. 64 That same day, the king set apart the central area of the Courtyard in front of God's Temple for sacred use and there sacrificed the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, Grain-Offerings, and fat from the Peace-Offerings - the bronze Altar was too small to handle all these offerings. 65 This is how Solomon kept the great autumn feast, and all Israel with him, people there all the way from the far northeast (the Entrance to Hamath) to the far southwest (the Brook of Egypt) - a huge congregation. They started out celebrating for seven days - and then did it another seven days! Two solid weeks of celebration! 66 Then he dismissed them. They blessed the king and went home, exuberant with heartfelt gratitude for all the good God had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.

1 Kings 9

1 After Solomon had completed building The Temple of God and his own palace, all the projects he had set his heart on doing, 2 God appeared to Solomon again, just as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And God said to him, "I've listened to and received all your prayers, your ever-so-passionate prayers. I've sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. 4 As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, 5 then I'll back your kingly rule over Israel, make it a sure thing on a solid foundation. The same guarantee I gave David your father I'm giving you: 'You can count on always having a descendant on Israel's throne.' 6 "But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, 7then the guarantee is off: I'll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I've just sanctified to honor my Name. And Israel will become nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world. 8 And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; visitors will shake their heads, saying, 'Whatever happened here? What's the story behind these ruins?' 9Then they'll be told, 'The people who used to live here betrayed their God, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them. That's what's behind this God-visited devastation.'" 10 At the end of twenty years, having built the two buildings, The Temple of God and his personal palace, 11 Solomon rewarded Hiram king of Tyre with a gift of twenty villages in the district of Galilee. Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and cypress and gold that he had wanted. 12 But when Hiram left Tyre to look over the villages that Solomon had given him, he didn't like what he saw. 13 He said, "What kind of reward is this, my friend? Twenty backwoods hick towns!" People still refer to them that way. 14 This is all Hiram got from Solomon in exchange for four and a half tons of gold! 15 This is the work record of the labor force that King Solomon raised to build The Temple of God, his palace, the defense complex (the Millo), the Jerusalem wall, and the fortified cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had come up and captured Gezer, torched it, and killed all the Canaanites who lived there. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, Solomon's wife. 17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer. 18 Baalath, and Tamar in the desert, back-country 19 storehouse villages, and villages for chariots and horses. Solomon built widely and extravagantly in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and wherever he fancied. 20 The remnants from the original inhabitants of the land (Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites - all non-Israelites), 21 survivors of the holy wars, were rounded up by Solomon for his gangs of slave labor, a policy still in effect. 22 But true Israelites were not treated this way; they were used in his army and administration - government leaders and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 23 They were also the project managers responsible for Solomon's building operations - 550 of them in charge of the workforce. 24 It was after Pharaoh's daughter ceremonially ascended from the City of David and took up residence in the house built especially for her that Solomon built the defense complex (the Millo). 25 Three times a year Solomon worshiped at the Altar of God, sacrificing Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings, and burning incense in the presence of God. Everything that had to do with The Temple he did generously and well; he didn't skimp. 26 And ships! King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, located near Elath in Edom on the Red Sea. 27 Hiram sent seaworthy sailors to assist Solomon's men with the fleet. 28 They embarked for Ophir, brought back sixteen tons of gold, and presented it to King Solomon.

morning reading

evening reading

Please join us for our weekly broadcasts 7pm mondays and thursdays on ustream

Book Heaven Help Us Ministries Robert Williams Christian Speaker & gospel singer for your next event