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."

The young woman was very beautiful; she became the king's nurse and served him, but the king did not have sexual relations with her.

His father [David] had never rebuked him at any time by asking, “Why have you done this?” Adonijah was also a very handsome man, and he was born 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 spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know about it?

Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Have you not, my lord, O king, sworn to your maidservant, saying, “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become 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.'

Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’?

For today he has gone down and sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king's sons, the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. At this moment they are having a feast in his presence, and they have declared, 'Long live King Adonijah!'

If this thing has been done by my lord the king, why have you not shown your servants who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

The king said to them, “Take my servants with you, have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and take 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.'

And ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit on my throne; for he shall reign 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 has 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 at Gihon; and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise which 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.

And he said, I have something to say to thee. And she said, Speak.

So he replied, "You know that the kingdom should have come to me, and that everyone in Israel intended to place me as the next king. However, the kingdom has turned around and now belongs to my brother, because it went to him from the LORD.

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.

Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; do not refuse me.” And 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 unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get you to Anathoth, unto your own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you have been afflicted in all 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 swear by Jehovah, and protest to thee, saying, Know for certain, that on the day thou goest forth, and walkest abroad anywhere, 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.

Solomon replied, "You demonstrated great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne.

Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David's place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced.

Your servant is among Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.

God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself a long life nor for wealth, nor for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to recognize justice,

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

And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and glory; so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto 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.

You have knowledge that David my father was not able to make a house for the name of the Lord his God, because of the wars which were round him on every side, till the Lord put all those who were against him under 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 heard the things which thou sentest to me for: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of cypress.

My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the [Mediterranean] sea, and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea to the place (port) that you direct me; then I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then you shall return the favor by providing food for my household.”

The bottom floor of the extension was seven and a half feet wide, the middle floor nine feet wide, and the third floor ten and a half feet wide. He made ledges on the temple's outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls.

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.

And they drew out the staves, and the heads of the staves were seen from the holy place, in front of the shrine, although they were not seen on the outside, - and they have remained there until this 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, built, a house as a high abode for thee, - A settled place for thee to abide in, for ages.

Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel, out of Egypt, I had chosen no city, out of all the tribes of Israel, for building a house, where my Name might be, - but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my Name should be there, and 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.

So then Yahweh hath established his word which he spake, - and I have been raised up in the room of David my father, and have taken my seat upon the throne of Israel, as spake Yahweh, and have built the house for the Name of Yahweh, God of Israel;

and have appointed there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Yahweh, - which he solemnised with our fathers, when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.

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 serve me as you have done.'

Now therefore, O God of Israel, let Your word, I pray, be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

But, in very deed, will God dwell, upon the earth? Lo! the heaven, yea the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?

Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:

that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My Name (Presence) shall be there,’ that You may listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

Give ear to the prayers of your servant, and the prayers of your people Israel, when they make their prayers, turning to this place; give ear in heaven your living-place, and hearing, 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 thy people Israel are smitten before an enemy, because they have been sinning against thee, - and they turn again unto thee, and confess thy Name, and pray and make supplication unto thee, 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 heavens are shut up, and there is no rain, because they have been sinning against thee, - and they shall pray toward this place, and confess thy Name, and, from their sin, shall return, because thou hast been afflicting 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.

any prayer, any supplication which, any son of earth, may have, of all thy people Israel, - who will certainly know every man the plague of his own heart, and so he shall spread abroad his hands towards this house,

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:

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:

wilt, thou thyself, hear in the heavens, the settled place of thine abode, and act, according to all for which, the stranger, shall cry unto thee, - to the end that all the peoples of the earth may truly know thy Name, so as to revere thee, like thy people Israel, and to know that, thine own Name, hath been given unto this house, which I have built?

When thy people go forth to war against their enemy, whithersoever thou mayest send them, - and shall pray unto Yahweh, in the direction of the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy 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;

and they come back to their right mind, in the land whither they have been taken captive, - and so turn and make supplication unto thee, in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely, we have been lawless;

and so they turn unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who have carried them away captive, - and pray unto thee in the direction of their own land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy Name,

and grant forgiveness to thy people, who have sinned against thee, even as to all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, - and grant them compassion before their captors, so that they may have compassion upon them;

(for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace),

For You, Lord God, have set them apart as Your inheritance
from all the people on earth,
as You spoke through Your servant Moses
when You brought their ancestors out of Egypt.

And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near unto Yahweh our God, day and night, - that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as any need ariseth:

And Yahweh said unto him - I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, wherewith thou hast made supplication before me, I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my Name there unto times age-abiding, - and mine eyes and my heart shall be there, continually:

As for thee, therefore, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, with a whole heart and with uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, - and, my statutes and my regulations, wilt keep,

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.'

If ye, turn back, ye or your sons, from following me, and keep not my commandments, my statutes, which I have set before you, - but depart and serve other gods, and bow yourselves down to them,

then will I cut off Israel, from the face of the soil, which I have given unto them, and, the house which I have hallowed for my Name, will I suffer to be carried away from before me, - and Israel shall become a byword and a mockery, among all the 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 answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.