Therefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.

Therefore Nathan spoke unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith does reign, and David our lord knows it not?

Now therefore come, let me, I pray you, give you counsel, that you may save your own life, and the life of your son Solomon.

And you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.

And the king swore, and said, As the LORD lives, that has redeemed my soul out of all distress,

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

And all the people came up after him, and the people played on flutes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth shook with the sound of them.

And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?

And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city resounds with it. This is the noise that you have heard.

And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.

And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon: for, lo, he has caught hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

And keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself:

That the LORD may continue his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his belt that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at your table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom your brother.

And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: however the kingdom has turned about, and has become my brother's: for it was his from the LORD.

And he said, Speak, I pray you, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not say nay to you,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to be my wife.

And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down so that he died.

So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfill the word of the LORD, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, strike him down.

And the king said unto him, Do as he has said, and strike him down, and bury him; that you may take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.

For it shall be, that on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, you shall know for certain that you shall surely die: your blood shall be upon your own head.

And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath.

And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again.

And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make you to swear by the LORD, and admonished you, saying, Know for a certain, on the day you go out, and travel anywhere, that you shall surely die? and you said unto me, The word that I have heard is good.

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

The king said moreover to Shimei, You know all the wickedness which was in your heart, that you did to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return your wickedness upon your own head;

So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; who went out, and struck him, so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: except that he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

And Solomon said, You have shown unto your servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before you in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you; and you have kept for him this great kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

Give therefore your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this your so great a people?

And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

Behold, I have done according to your words: lo, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like unto you.

And I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto you all your days.

Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, except we two in the house.

Then said the king, The one says, This is my son that lives, and your son is dead: and the other says, Nay; but your son is dead, and my son is living.

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

Baana the son of Ahilud; in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokmeam:

And those officers provided food for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore.

And he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springs out of the wall: he spoke also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father: for Hiram was always a lover of David.

You know how that David my father could not build a house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.

But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor misfortune.

Now therefore command you that they cut me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with your servants: and unto you will I give wages for your servants according to all that you shall appoint: for you know that there is not among us any that has skill to cut timber like unto the Sidonians.

And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given unto David a wise son over this great people.

My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that you shall appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and you shall receive them: and you shall accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.

And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bore burdens, and fourscore thousand quarried stone in the mountains;

Besides the chief of Solomon's officers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who ruled over the people that labored in the work.

And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

The lowest chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for outside in the wall of the house he made narrowed ledges round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.

And the house, when it was being built, was built of stone made ready before it was brought there: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was being built.

And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.

And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

And he set the cherubim within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the middle of the house.

And it was covered with cedar above the beams, that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row.

And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the capitals that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other capital.

And the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits.

And on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim: and upon the frames there was a pedestal above: and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths made of hammered work.

And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he made for king Solomon for the house of the LORD:

The two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars;

And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were upon the pillars;

And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, on which was the showbread,

So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the furnishings, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.

And they drew out the poles, so that the ends of the poles were seen out in the holy place before the inner sanctuary, and they were not seen outside: and there they are unto this day.

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

Then spoke Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

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, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

And the LORD said unto David my father, Since it was in your heart to build a house unto my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

Nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son that shall be born of your body, he shall build the house unto my name.

And the LORD has performed his word that he spoke, and I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with your servants that walk before you with all their heart:

Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that your children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as you have walked before me.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built?

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: that you may hearken unto the prayer which your servant shall make toward this place.

Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, that you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

That they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave unto our fathers.

Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of your people Israel, but comes out of a far country for your name's sake;

Hear you in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to you for: that all people 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, wherever you shall send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for your name:

If they sin against you, (for there is no man that sins not,) and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

Yet if they shall come to themselves in the land where they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto you in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

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

That your eyes may be open unto the supplication of your servant, and unto the supplication of your people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto you.

And it was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

Blessed be the LORD, that has given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:

That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.

The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brass altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.