1 Kings

1 Kings opens with David's succession and Solomon's request: a wise heart to judge the people. Then comes the peak — the building of the temple, international fame, the queen of Sheba's visit — and also the decline, when alliances and foreign worship divide the king's heart. After his death the kingdom splits in two: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. From there the book alternates kings and short verdicts ("he did what was evil in the Lord's sight") and introduces one of the Bible's most striking figures: Elijah, who confronts the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and, right afterwards, falls into deep discouragement under a broom tree.