World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Chronicles 17
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When was living in his house, said to the , "Behold, I live in a cedar house, but the is in a tent." said to , "Do all that is in ; for is with you." That same night, the word of came to , saying, "Go and tell my servant, ' says, "You shall not build me a house to in; for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tent to another. In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be of my people, saying, 'Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'"' "Now therefore, you shall tell my servant , ' of Armies says, "I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have all your from before you. I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not waste them any more, as at the first, and from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will all your . Moreover I tell you that will build you a house. It will happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish . He will build me a house, and I will establish his . I will be his , and he will be my son. I will not take my away from him, as I took it from him who was before you; but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom . His will be established ."'" According to all these words, and according to all this , so spoke to . Then the king went in and sat before ; and he said, "Who am I, , and what is my house, that you have brought me this far? This was a small thing in your eyes, O , but you have spoken of house for a great while to come, and have respected me according to the standard of a man of high degree, . What can say yet more to you concerning the which is done to ? For you know . , for sake, and according to your own , you have done all this greatness, to make known all these great things. , there is no one like you, neither is there any besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. What one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom went to to himself for a people, to make you a name by great and awesome things, in driving out nations from before your people whom you out of ? For you made your people Israel your own people ; and you, , became their . Now, , let the word that you have spoken concerning , and concerning his house, be established , and do as you have spoken. Let your name be established and magnified , saying, ' of Armies is the of Israel, even a to Israel. The house of is established before you.' For you, my , have to that you will build him a house. Therefore has found courage to before you. Now, , you are , and have promised this good thing to . Now it has pleased you to the house of , that it may continue before you; for you, , have , and it is ."
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The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.