so his servants suggested to him, "Let's look for a young virgin woman to take care of you, your majesty. She will be of use to you if you have her lie down near you so that your majesty may keep warm."

Now the young woman was very beautiful; she was of use for the king, and she served him, but the king did not {have sexual relations with her}.

And his father had not displeased him at any time, saying, Why have you done so? And he also was very good of form, and his mother bore him after Absalom.

but Zadok the priest, Jehoiada's son Benaiah, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David's personal elite forces would have nothing to do with Adonijah.

Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, "Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, but our lord David does not know?

Come, go to King David and say to him, 'Have you not, my lord the king, sworn to your servant, "Surely Solomon your son shall become king after me. And he will sit on my throne"? But why is Adonijah king?'

Lo, thou are yet speaking there with the king, and I come in after thee, and have completed thy words.'

and it hath been, when my lord the king lieth with his fathers, that I have been, I and my son Solomon -- reckoned sinners.'

Nathan said, "My lord the king, have you said, 'Adonijah shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne'?

"For he went down today and sacrificed oxen, sheep, and fattened animals {in abundance}. He invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and look, they are eating and drinking before him. They have also said, "Long live King Adonijah!

Is this thing done by my lord the king, and have you not shown your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

The king said to them, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

And have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel. Blow the trumpet, and say, 'Long live king Solomon.'

Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.

And Adonijah heareth, and all those called, who are with him, and they have finished to eat, and Joab heareth the noise of the trumpet, and saith, 'Wherefore is the noise of the city roaring?'

And while the words were on his lips, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest, came; and Adonijah said, Come in; for you are a man of good faith and the news which you have for us will be good.

And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule:

And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they have come from thence rejoicing, so that the city resounded. This is the noise that ye have heard.

The king's servants have even come to congratulate our master King David, saying, 'May your God make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!' Then the king leaned on the bed

and keep your obligation to the Lord your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees. This is written in the law of Moses, so that you will have success in everything you do and wherever you turn,

and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me, 'If your descendants watch their step and live faithfully in my presence with all their heart and being, then,' he promised, 'you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.'

Now you have knowledge of what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, and to the two captains of the army of Israel, Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether, whom he put to death, taking payment for the blood of war in time of peace, and making the band of my clothing and the shoes on my feet red with the blood of one put to death without cause.

'And to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite thou dost do kindness, and they have been among those eating at thy table, for so they drew near unto me in my fleeing from the face of Absalom thy brother.

"Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim. He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised him by the Lord, 'I will not strike you down with the sword.'

But do not let him be free from punishment, for you are a wise man; and it will be clear to you what you have to do with him; see that his white head goes down to the underworld in blood.

He said moreover, I have somewhat to say to thee. And she said, Say on.

He said, "You know that the kingship was mine and that all Israel had set their face toward me as king, but the kingship turned around and became my brother's, for it was from Yahweh for him [to have it].

So now I have just one request of you; don’t turn me down.”

She said to him, “Go on.”

So Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to have talk with him on Adonijah's account. And the king got up to come to her, and went down low to the earth before her; then he took his place on the king's seat and had a seat made ready for the king's mother and she took her place at his right hand.

She said, "I have one small request I am asking from you. Do {not refuse me}." The king said to her, "Ask, my mother, for I will {not refuse you}."

Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.

And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Go to Anathoth, to your fields, for you are worthy of death. But I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because you have been afflicted in all that in which my father was afflicted.

thus shall their blood come back upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed unto times age-abiding, - but, David and his seed, and his house, and his throne, shall have peace, unto times age-abiding, from Yahweh.

And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protest to thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest any where abroad, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst to me, The word that I have heard is good.

Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?

And the king said to Shimei, You have knowledge of all the evil which you did to David my father; and now the Lord has sent back your evil on yourself.

Then Solomon said, "You have shown great loyal love with your servant David my father, as he walked before you in faithfulness and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with you. You have shown for him this great loyal love, and you have given a son to him who is sitting on his throne as [it is] this day.

So then, O Yahweh, you are my God. You have made your servant king in place of David my father [though] I [am] a young boy. I do not know going out or coming in.

Your servant [is] in the middle of your people whom you have chosen; a great people who cannot be counted or numbered because of abundance.

And God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and you did not ask for yourself {a long life} and you did not ask riches for yourself and you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you have asked for yourself {the ability to make wise judgments};

Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like to thee.

And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like to thee all thy days,

and if thou dost walk in My ways to keep My statutes, and My commands, as David thy father walked, then I have prolonged thy days.'

The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said, "My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don't kill him!" But the other woman said, "Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!"

And all Israel hear of the judgment that the king hath judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God is in his heart, to do judgment.

And Solomon hath twelve officers over all Israel, and they have sustained the king and his household -- a month in the year is on each one for sustenance;

And these officers have sustained king Solomon and every one drawing near unto the table of king Solomon, each in his month; they let nothing be lacking.

and there come out of all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who have heard of his wisdom.

'Thou hast known David my father, that he hath not been able to build a house to the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars that have been round about him, till Jehovah's putting them under the soles of his feet.

But now the LORD has given me rest all around, since I have neither foreign adversaries nor domestic crises.

So I have decided to build a temple to honor the Lord my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, 'Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.'

So now order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants. I will pay your servants whatever you say is appropriate, for you know that we have no one among us who knows how to cut down trees like the Sidonians."

And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will perform all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.

My servants will transport them from Lebanon to the sea, where we'll make them into rafts and float them by sea to the port that you tell me to send them. We'll have them prepared for transport there and then you can carry them from there. You can meet my needs by providing provisions for my household."

The nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house round about, that the beams'should not have hold in the walls of the house.

This house that thou art building -- if thou dost walk in My statutes, and My judgments dost do, yea, hast done all My commands, to walk in them, then I have established My word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father,

and have tabernacled in the midst of the sons of Israel, and do not forsake My people Israel.'

And this is the work of the base: they have borders, and the borders are between the joinings;

And four wheels of brass are to the one base, and axles of brass; and its four corners have shoulders -- under the laver are the molten shoulders, beside each addition.

Thus he hath made the ten bases; one casting, one measure, one form, have they all.

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

and the priests have not been able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house of Jehovah.

Then Solomon said, O Lord, to the sun you have given the heaven for a living-place, but your living-place was not seen by men;

I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever."

Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; but I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

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

Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

There I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt."

who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.

Now therefore, may Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, 'There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.'

So then, O God of Israel, please let your word be confirmed which you have promised to your servant David my father.

But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you this day;

that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there;' to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward this place.

And hearken unto the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel which they shall pray in this place. And hear thou, up unto heaven thy dwelling place, and when thou hearest have mercy.

If a man have sinned against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to adjure him, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;

"When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house:

Then give ear in heaven, and let the sin of your people Israel have forgiveness, and take them back again into the land which you gave to their fathers.

"When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them:

then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

whatever prayer or petition
anyone from Your people Israel might have—
each man knowing his own afflictions
and spreading out his hands toward this temple—

Give ear in heaven your living-place, acting in mercy; and give to every man whose secret heart is open to you, the reward of all his ways; for you, and you only, have knowledge of the hearts of all the children of men:

Do this so that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

(For they will have news of your great name and your strong hand and your out-stretched arm;) when he comes to make his prayer, turning to this house:

hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

"If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name;

If they have sinned against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and give them up to the enemy, and they have carried them away captives unto the enemy's land, far or near;

yet if they shall repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, 'We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;'

if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name:

and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

"Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace.

For you have separated them for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as you promised through the hand of Moses your servant when you brought out our ancestors from Egypt, my Lord Yahweh!"

Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require;

Yahweh said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;

Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently, just as I promised your father David, 'You will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.'

But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

as to this house, that is high, every one passing by it is astonished, and hath hissed, and they have said, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house?

And they shall say, Because they forsook Jehovah their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have attached themselves to other gods, and have worshipped them and served them; therefore has Jehovah brought upon them all this evil.