And Solomon…spread out his hands toward heaven: And he said, "Furthermore concerning a stranger, that is not of your people Israel, but comes out of a far country for your name's sake; (For they shall hear of your great name, and of your strong hand, and of your stretched out arm) when he shall come and pray toward this house; Hear you in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to you for: that all people of the earth may know your name, to revere you, as do your people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have built, is called by your name.

"If your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever you shall send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for your name: Then hear you in heaven their prayer and their request for favor, and maintain their cause.

"If they sin against you, (for there is no man that sins not) and you be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; Yet if they shall return in their heart themselves in the land where they were carried captives, and repent, and seek favor unto you in the land…saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness’; And so return unto you with all their heart, and with all their soul…and pray unto you toward their land, which you gave unto their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name: Then hear you their prayer and their request for favor in heaven your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people that have sinned against you, and all their transgressions when they have transgressed against you, and give them compassion before them who carried their enemies captive, that their enemies may have compassion on them.

"For they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought forth out of Egypt, from the center of the furnace of iron: That your eyes may be open unto the request for favor of your servant, and unto the request for favor of your people Israel, to listen unto them in all that they call for unto you. For you did separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by the hand of Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD."

And Solomon stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, "Blessed be the LORD, that has given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.

"Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day." And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.

And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar, which he built unto the LORD, and he burned incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.

A Song of degrees

"LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions:
How he swore unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
"Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids,
Until I find out a place for the LORD, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob."
For your servant David's sake turn not away the face of your anointed.
For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his habitation.
There will I make the horn of David to bud:
I have ordained a lamp for my anointed.

And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber…on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffic of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn….

And king Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one large shield. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were supports on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the supports. 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.

And all king Solomon's drinking articles were of gold, and all the articles of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, ‘You shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods’: Solomon clung unto these in love.

For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.

And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. Therefore the LORD said unto Solomon, "Because you have done this, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless in your days I will not do it for David your father's sake: but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Nevertheless I will not tear away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to your son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen."

And the LORD stirred up an enemy unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. And God stirred him up another enemy, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah: And he was an enemy to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he hated Israel, and reigned over Syria. And Jeroboam the son of Nebat…Solomon's servant…even he lifted up his hand against the king.

And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had dressed himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field: And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces: And he said to Jeroboam, "Take you ten pieces: for this says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Look, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you: And it shall be, if you will listen unto all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; then I will be with you, and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto you." Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled…unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son hear the instruction of your father, and forsake not the law of your mother.

"I said in my heart, Go to now, I will prove you with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, look, this also is vanity.

"I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

"I made me great works; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards: And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor.

"Then I looked on all the works that my hands had accomplished, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, look, all was vanity and longing of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

"Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them….

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it…that they sent and called him.