Study Desk

then hear in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, so that his way of life devolves on his own head, and vindicating the one who is right, giving him what his righteousness deserves.

"When they sin against you, and in consequence the sky is shut, so that there is no rain; then, if they pray toward this place, acknowledge your name and turn from their sin when you have brought them low;

so that they will fear you throughout the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.

then hear in heaven where you live, and act in accordance with everything about which the foreigner is calling to you; so that all the peoples of the earth will know your name and fear you, as does your people Isra'el, and so that they will know that this house which I have built bears your name.

"If they sin against you — for there is no one who doesn't sin — and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that they carry them off captive to the land of their enemy, whether far away or nearby;

and forgive your people who have sinned against you — forgive their transgressions which they have committed against you, and give them compassion in the sight of their captors, so that they will show compassion toward them;

"May your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Isra'el, so that you will hear them whenever they cry out to you.

In this way he will incline our hearts toward him, so that we will live according to his ways and observe his mitzvot, laws and rulings which he ordered our fathers to obey.

May these words of mine, which I have used in my plea before Adonai , be present with Adonai our God day and night, so that he will uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Isra'el day by day.

So be wholehearted with Adonai our God, living by his laws and observing his mitzvot, as you are doing today."

So Shlomo celebrated the festival at that time. All Isra'el, a huge gathering [that had come all the way] from the entrance of Hamat to the Vadi [of Egypt], celebrated with him before Adonai our God for seven days and then for seven more days — fourteen days in all.

This house, now so exalted — everyone passing by will gasp in shock at the sight of it and will ask, ‘Why has Adonai done this to this land and to this house?'

He said, "What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?" So they have been called the land of Kabul [good for nothing] till this day.

So Shlomo rebuilt Gezer; he also built Lower Beit-Horon,

Three times a year Shlomo offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for Adonai , offering incense with them on the altar before Adonai . So he finished the house.

So King Shlomo surpassed all the kings on earth in both wealth and wisdom.

For when Shlomo became old, his wives turned his heart away toward other gods; so that he was not wholehearted with Adonai his God, as David his father had been.

So Adonai grew angry with Shlomo, because his heart had turned away from Adonai the God of Isra'el, who had appeared to him twice

So Adonai said to Shlomo, "Since this is what has been in your mind, and you haven't kept my covenant and my regulations which I ordered you to obey, I will tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.

Hadad became a great favorite of Pharaoh, so that he gave him his own wife's sister in marriage, that is, the sister of Tachp'neis the queen.