Solomon and the entire assembly went to the worship center in Gibeon, for the tent where they met God was located there, which Moses the Lord's servant had made in the wilderness.

(Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, was in front of the Lord's tabernacle. Solomon and the entire assembly prayed to him there.)

Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord which was at the meeting tent, and he offered up a thousand burnt sacrifices.

That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Tell me what I should give you."

Solomon replied to God, "You demonstrated great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place.

Now, Lord God, may your promise to my father David be realized, for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth.

Now give me wisdom and discernment so I can effectively lead this nation. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours."

God said to Solomon, "Because you desire this, and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, and because you did not ask for long life, but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king,

Solomon left the meeting tent at the worship center in Gibeon and went to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Israel.

They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt, and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.

Solomon ordered a temple to be built to honor the Lord, as well as a royal palace for himself.

Solomon had 70,000 common laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, in addition to 3,600 supervisors.

Solomon sent a message to King Huram of Tyre: "Help me as you did my father David, when you sent him cedar logs for the construction of his palace.

Look, I am ready to build a temple to honor the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him in order to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed, and to offer burnt sacrifices each morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other times appointed by the Lord our God. This is something Israel must do on a permanent basis.

Of course, who can really build a temple for him, since the sky and the highest heavens cannot contain him? Who am I that I should build him a temple! It will really be only a place to offer sacrifices before him.

"Now send me a man who is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as purple, crimson, and violet colored fabrics, and who knows how to engrave. He will work with my skilled craftsmen here in Jerusalem and Judah, whom my father David provided.

to supply me with large quantities of timber, for I am building a great, magnificent temple.

King Huram of Tyre sent this letter to Solomon: "Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king."

whose mother is a Danite and whose father is a Tyrian. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stones, and wood, as well as purple, violet, white, and crimson fabrics. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and understands any design given to him. He will work with your skilled craftsmen and the skilled craftsmen of my lord David your father.

Now let my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he has promised;

we will get all the timber you need from Lebanon and bring it in raft-like bundles by sea to Joppa. You can then haul it on up to Jerusalem."

He designated 70,000 as common laborers, 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills, and 3,600 as supervisors to make sure the people completed the work.

Solomon began building the Lord's temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

He began building on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign.

Solomon laid the foundation for God's temple; its length (determined according to the old standard of measure) was 90 feet, and its width 30 feet.

The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple, and its height was 30 feet. He plated the inside with pure gold.

He made the most holy place; its length was 30 feet, corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet. He plated it with 600 talents of fine gold.

In the most holy place he made two images of cherubim and plated them with gold.

In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length of 52? feet, with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high.

He also made the big bronze basin called "The Sea." It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven and one-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet.

Images of bulls were under it all the way around, ten every eighteen inches all the way around. The bulls were in two rows and had been cast with "The Sea."

He made ten gold lampstands according to specifications and put them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left.

He made the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars,

the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar),

and the pots, shovels, and meat forks. All the items King Solomon assigned Huram Abi to make for the Lord's temple were made from polished bronze.

the pure gold lampstands and their lamps which burned as specified at the entrance to the inner sanctuary,

When Solomon had finished constructing the Lord's temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and all the other articles) in the treasuries of God's temple.

The priests and Levites carried the ark, the tent where God appeared to his people, and all the holy items in the tent.

The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place under the wings of the cherubs.

The poles were so long their ends extending out from the ark were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. (It was there that the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)

The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the Lord, singing: "Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!" Then a cloud filled the Lord's temple.

He told David, 'Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel.

But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.'

Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.

The Lord told my father David, 'It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.

and prayed: "O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity.

You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.

Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, 'You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.'

Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized.

But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you.

Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant's prayer for this place.

Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive.

"If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help before you in this temple,

then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

"The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them,

then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.

"The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

Then they will honor you by obeying you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.

"Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.

"When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,

then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them.

"The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by.

When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, 'We have sinned and gone astray, we have done evil!'

When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,

then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, vindicate them, and forgive your sinful people.

"Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.

Now ascend, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O Lord God, experience your deliverance! May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give!

O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones! Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!"

The priests were unable to enter the Lord's temple because the Lord's splendor filled the Lord's temple.

When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord's splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, "Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!"

The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord.

The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord. (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, "Certainly his loyal love endures.") Opposite the Levites, the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there.

Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord's temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings.

At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south.

On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had dedicated the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for seven more days.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home. They left happy and contented because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: "I have answered your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made.

When I close up the sky so that it doesn't rain, or command locusts to devour the land's vegetation, or send a plague among my people,

if my people, who belong to me, humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, and repudiate their sinful practices, then I will respond from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.

You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.

Then I will establish your dynasty, just as I promised your father David, 'You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.'

"But if you people ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods,

As for this temple, which was once majestic, everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, 'Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?'

Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it.

and built up Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to him, and all the cities where chariots and horses were kept. He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.

Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews and they continue in that role to this very day.

Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; the Israelites served as his soldiers, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces.

Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, "My wife must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy."

Then Solomon offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the temple's porch.

As his father David had decreed, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests to do their assigned tasks, the Levitical orders to lead worship and help the priests with their daily tasks, and the divisions of the gatekeepers to serve at their assigned gates. This was what David the man of God had ordered.

They did not neglect any detail of the king's orders pertaining to the priests, Levites, and treasuries.

All the work ordered by Solomon was completed, from the day the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid until it was finished; the Lord's temple was completed.

Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Elat on the coast in the land of Edom.

Huram sent him ships and some of his sailors, men who were well acquainted with the sea. They sailed with Solomon's men to Ophir, and took from there 450 talents of gold, which they brought back to King Solomon.

When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp, bringing with her camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind.

Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king.