1 Kings

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Chapters in 1 Kings

1. 1 Kings 1: Solomon Anointed King

   As King David grows old and frail, his son Adonijah declares himself king with the backing of Joab and Abiathar. Nathan and Bathsheba remind David of his oath, and David has Zadok and Nathan anoint Solomon at Gihon. Adonijah’s supporters scatter, and he clings to the altar until Solomon spares him on condition.

2. 1 Kings 2: David’s Charge and Solomon’s Throne Secured

   Before he dies, David urges Solomon to obey God’s law and gives instructions about Joab, Barzillai’s sons and Shimei. After David’s death, Solomon has Adonijah executed for seeking Abishag, dismisses the priest Abiathar as foretold against Eli’s house, and has Joab and later Shimei put to death, securing his rule.

3. 1 Kings 3: Solomon Asks God for Wisdom

   Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter and worships at the high places, and at Gibeon God invites him in a dream to request anything. He asks for discernment to rule justly, and God grants it along with riches and honor. His ruling between two women claiming one baby shows Israel that God’s wisdom is in him.

4. 1 Kings 4: Solomon’s Officials, Peace and Wisdom

   Solomon organizes his kingdom under chief officials and twelve district governors who supply the royal court. Israel grows numerous and lives in peace and plenty, and his rule stretches between the Euphrates and Egypt’s border. God gives Solomon surpassing wisdom, and people from every nation come to hear him.

5. 1 Kings 5: Preparations to Build the Temple

   King Hiram of Tyre, a longtime friend of David, welcomes Solomon’s intention to build a temple now that God has given rest, as promised to David. Hiram supplies cedar and cypress in exchange for food, the two kings make a treaty, and Solomon drafts laborers to quarry stone and cut timber.

6. 1 Kings 6: Solomon Builds the Temple

   Solomon begins building the LORD’s temple in Jerusalem, counting the years from Israel’s exodus from Egypt. While the work goes on, God promises to live among His people if Solomon obeys Him, and the innermost room with its gold-covered cherubim is prepared for the ark during seven years of work.

7. 1 Kings 7: Solomon’s Palace and the Temple Bronze

   Solomon spends thirteen years on his own palace, including a hall where he judges cases and a residence for his Egyptian wife. Huram, a skilled bronze worker from Tyre, casts the pillars Jachin and Boaz, the great basin called the Sea, and other temple items, and David’s gifts are stored in the temple.

8. 1 Kings 8: The Temple Dedicated

   The ark is carried into the new temple, and God’s glory fills it as a cloud. Solomon praises God for keeping His promise to David and asks God, whom even the heavens cannot hold, to hear and forgive His people and to answer foreigners who seek Him at the temple. A great feast of sacrifice and joy follows.

9. 1 Kings 9: God Warns Solomon a Second Time

   After the temple and palace are finished, the LORD appears to Solomon again, promising a secure throne for obedience and warning that idolatry will bring exile and a ruined temple. Solomon gives Hiram twenty towns, puts the remaining Canaanite peoples to forced labor, and sends ships to Ophir for gold.

10. 1 Kings 10: The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

    The queen of Sheba travels to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, finds his wisdom and court beyond all she had heard, and praises the LORD for making him king. The chapter then describes Solomon's vast gold, ivory throne, trade, chariots and horses.

11. 1 Kings 11: Solomon Turns Away and the Kingdom Is Torn

    In old age Solomon’s many foreign wives lead him to worship their gods, so the LORD vows to take most of his realm from his son, leaving one tribe for David’s sake. God raises up Hadad and Rezon as foes, Ahijah tears his cloak to promise Jeroboam ten tribes, Jeroboam flees to Egypt, and Solomon dies.

12. 1 Kings 12: The Kingdom Divides

    Rehoboam ignores his father’s older advisers, threatens the northern tribes with harsher labor, and loses ten tribes to Jeroboam, as the LORD had foretold through Ahijah. A prophet stops Judah from civil war, and Jeroboam sets up golden calves at Bethel and Dan with his own priests and feast.

13. 1 Kings 13: The Prophet from Judah at Bethel

    A prophet from Judah denounces Jeroboam’s altar at Bethel, foretelling a future king named Josiah; the altar splits, and Jeroboam’s hand withers and is healed. Deceived by an old prophet, the man of God disobeys God’s command and is killed by a lion, and Jeroboam still refuses to turn from his sin.

14. 1 Kings 14: Ahijah’s Word Against Jeroboam

    Jeroboam’s wife visits the blind prophet Ahijah in disguise to ask about their sick son and hears God’s judgment on Jeroboam’s family and on Israel; the boy dies as foretold. In Judah, Rehoboam’s people turn to idolatry, and Egypt’s king Shishak plunders Jerusalem, taking Solomon’s gold shields.

15. 1 Kings 15: Abijam, Asa, Nadab and Baasha

    Abijam rules Judah in his father's sins, yet God keeps David's line for David's sake. His son Asa purges idols and demotes his grandmother Maacah, and he pays Aram to turn on Baasha. In Israel, Baasha kills Nadab and wipes out Jeroboam's house as Ahijah foretold.

16. 1 Kings 16: From Baasha to Ahab

    The prophet Jehu condemns Baasha, and Zimri later kills Baasha's son Elah and destroys the family. Zimri dies after seven days, Omri prevails over Tibni, builds Samaria and does great evil. His son Ahab weds Jezebel and serves Baal, and Hiel rebuilds Jericho, losing two sons as Joshua foretold.

17. 1 Kings 17: Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath

    Elijah tells Ahab that no rain will fall until he says so, and ravens feed him by a brook. God then sends him to a widow in Zarephath, whose flour and oil last through the famine. When her son dies, Elijah prays, the boy revives, and she confesses that Elijah speaks the LORD's word.

18. 1 Kings 18: Elijah and the Prophets of Baal on Carmel

    Elijah returns to Ahab as the drought enters its third year, meeting Obadiah, the palace steward who had hidden a hundred prophets. On Mount Carmel Baal stays silent, but fire from the LORD consumes Elijah's soaked offering, the people confess Him as God, and rain returns after Elijah prays.

19. 1 Kings 19: Elijah at Horeb and the Call of Elisha

    Threatened by Jezebel, Elijah flees into the wilderness and asks to die, but an angel feeds him for the journey to Horeb. There the LORD speaks in a quiet voice after wind, earthquake and fire, sends him to anoint new leaders, reveals a faithful remnant, and Elisha leaves his plow to follow.

20. 1 Kings 20: Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad of Aram

    Ben-hadad of Aram besieges Samaria, but the LORD gives Ahab two victories so that he will know He is the LORD, even on the plains Aram thought He did not rule. Ahab spares Ben-hadad by treaty, and a disguised prophet announces that Ahab's life will pay for releasing him.

21. 1 Kings 21: Naboth's Vineyard

    Naboth refuses to sell Ahab his family land, and Jezebel arranges false witnesses so that Naboth is stoned and Ahab can seize the vineyard. Elijah confronts Ahab with the LORD's sentence on him, Jezebel, and his house. When Ahab humbles himself, the LORD delays the disaster until his son's time.

22. 1 Kings 22: Micaiah's Warning and Ahab's Death

    Ahab and Jehoshaphat plan to retake Ramoth-gilead, and four hundred prophets promise victory. Micaiah reveals that the LORD has decreed Ahab's fall and put a deceiving spirit in his prophets. Ahab jails Micaiah, but a random arrow kills the disguised king; brief reports on Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah follow.