God

ADONAI appeared to Shlomo by night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

If I shut up the sky, so that there is no rain; or if I order locusts to devour the land; or if I send an epidemic of sickness among my people;

then, if my people, who bear my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.

Now my eyes will be open and my ears will pay attention to the prayer made in this place.

For now I have chosen and consecrated this house, so that my name can be there forever; my eyes and heart will always be there.

As for you, if you will live in my presence, as did David your father, doing everything I have ordered you to do, and keeping my laws and rulings;

then I will establish the throne of your rulership, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, 'You will never lack a man to be ruler in Isra'el.'

But if you turn away and abandon my regulations and mitzvot which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, worshipping them;

then I will pull them up by the roots out of the land I have given them. This house, which I consecrated for my name, I will eject from my sight; and I will make it an example to avoid and an object of scorn among all peoples.

This house, now so exalted - everyone passing by will be shocked at the sight of it and will ask, 'Why has ADONAI done this to this land and to this house?'

But the answer will be, 'It's because they abandoned ADONAI the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took hold of other gods, worshipping and serving them; this is why [ADONAI] brought all these calamities on them.'"

At the end of twenty years, during which time Shlomo had built the house of ADONAI and his own palace,

Shlomo brought up Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to the house he had built for her; because he said, "No wife of mine is going to live in the house of David king of Isra'el, since the [buildings] where the ark of ADONAI has been are holy."

Then Shlomo offered burnt offerings to ADONAI on the altar of ADONAI that he had built in front of the vestibule,

As David his father had ordered, he appointed the divisions of the cohanim for their service and the L'vi'im to their tasks - to praise and to perform their service in the presence of the cohanim according to each day's requirements. He also appointed the gatekeepers by their divisions to be at every gate, for David the man of God had so ordered.

All the work of Shlomo was organized in this way from the day ground was broken for the house of ADONAI until everything had been accomplished, and the house of ADONAI had been completed.

the food at his table, the manner of seating his officials, the manner in which his staff served him and how they were dressed, his personal servants and how they were dressed, and his manner of going up to the house of ADONAI, it left her breathless.

Blessed be ADONAI your God, who took pleasure in you to put you on his throne, so that you could be king for ADONAI your God. Because of your God's love for Isra'el, to establish them forever, he has made you king over them, to administer law and judgment."

The king used the sandalwood to make walkways for the house of ADONAI and for the royal palace, also lyres and lutes for the singers. None like these had been seen before in the land of Y'hudah.

All the kings on earth sought to have an audience with Shlomo, in order to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

So the king didn't listen to the people; and that was something God brought about, so that ADONAI could fulfill his word, which he had spoken through Achiyah from Shiloh to Yarov'am the son of N'vat.

But this word of ADONAI came to Sh'ma'yah the man of God:

that this is what ADONAI says: 'You are not to go up and fight your brothers! Every man is to go back home, because this is my doing.'" They paid attention to the words of ADONAI and turned back from attacking Yarov'am.

The L'vi'im left their pasture lands and property and came to Y'hudah and Yerushalayim; since Yarov'am and his sons had thrown them out, not allowing them to function as cohanim for ADONAI,

Those from all the tribes of Isra'el who had set their hearts on seeking ADONAI, the God of Isra'el, followed them to Yerushalayim to sacrifice to ADONAI, the God of their fathers.