Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat.

And the young woman was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

And his father had not rebuked him at any time in saying, Why have you done so? and he also was a very handsome man; and his mother bore him after Absalom.

And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king.

And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

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.

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.

So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.

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 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.

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.

So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and struck him down, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

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

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.

However the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

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.

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 Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

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.

And when I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead: but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I did bear.

Then spoke the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her heart yearned for her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor yours, but divide it.

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.

So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was priest, and the king's friend:

And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor.

Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife:

Baana the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth:

Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.

And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour, and threescore cors of meal,

For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

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.

And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they both made a treaty together.

And king Solomon raised forced labor out of all Israel; and the forced labor was thirty thousand men.

And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by shifts: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the forced labor.

As for the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.

And the porch in front of the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof in front of the house.

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.

The door for the lowest chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.

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

And the cedar of the house inside was carved with knobs and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

And the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and also covered the altar which was of cedar.

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 five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the tip of the one wing unto the tip of the other were ten cubits.

And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one size.

The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.

In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Ziv:

And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all its parts, and according to all its plans. So was he seven years in building it.

But Solomon was building his own house for thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length of it was a hundred cubits, and the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

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

And there were windows in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and window was opposite window in three tiers.

And he made a porch of pillars; the length of it was fifty cubits, and the breadth of it thirty cubits: and the porch was in front of them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were in front of them.

Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

And his house where he dwelt had another court inside the porch, which was of like workmanship. Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken as his wife, like unto this porch.

And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

And the great court round about was with three rows of cut stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house.

He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in bronze. And he came to king Solomon, and did all his work.

And he made two capitals of molten bronze, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits:

And the capitals upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the rounded projection which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other capital.

And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and its height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.

And under the brim of it round about there were knobs compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knobs were cast in two rows, when it was cast.

It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hind parts were inward.

And it was a handbreadth thick, and the brim thereof was shaped like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.

And he made ten stands of bronze; four cubits was the length of one stand, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.

And the work of the stands was on this manner: they had panels, and the panels were between the frames:

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 the mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round like the shape of a pedestal, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were engravings with their panels, foursquare, not round.

And under the panels were four wheels; and the axles of the wheels were joined to the stand: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.

And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their hubs, and their spokes, were all molten.

And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high: and on the top of the stand the frames thereof and the panels thereof were all one piece.

Then made he ten lavers of bronze: each laver contained forty baths: and each laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten stands was one laver.

And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were very many: neither was the weight of the bronze measured.

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.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of 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.

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.

The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:

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.

And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,

And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.

And she came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she spoke with him of all that was in her heart.

And Solomon answered her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not.

And the food of his table, and the seating of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom.

However I believed not the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: your wisdom and prosperity exceeds the fame which I heard.

And the king made of the almug wood pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug wood, nor was seen such unto this day.

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back: and there were arms on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms.

And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like of it made in any kingdom.

And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

And a chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so to all the kings of the Hittites, and to the kings of Syria, did they export them by their merchants.