And the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made [was] there before the tabernacle of Yahweh. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out.

Now, O Yahweh God, let your word to David my father be fulfilled, for you yourself have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

Now, give to me wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this, your great people?"

Then God said to Solomon, "Because this was with your heart and you did not ask for wealth, possessions, honor, and the lives of your enemies, and also did not ask for {long life}, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge that you might judge my people over whom I have made you king,

wisdom and knowledge is given to you. And I will [also] give to you wealth, possessions, and honor, the like of which was not had by the kings who [were] before you, nor will there be the like after you."

And the king made silver and gold in Jerusalem like the stones. And he made cedar as abundant as the sycamore fig trees that [were] in the Shephelah.

And Solomon's horses [were] imported from Egypt and from Kue. The traders of the king received [them] from Kue at a price.

They went up and exported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver and a horse for one hundred and fifty [shekels]. And [these were] {likewise exported} to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Look, I am building a house for the name of Yahweh my God to dedicate to him, to offer sweet spices of incense before him, and [for] the regular rows [of bread], and burnt offerings for mornings, evenings, Sabbaths, and new moon festivals, and for appointed feasts of Yahweh our God which [are] everlasting for Israel.

And the house that I am building [will be] great, for our God [is] greater than all gods.

Now who indeed has adequate strength to build a house for him? For the heavens and {the highest heavens} are not able to contain him. Now who [am] I that I would build a house for him, except to burn incense before him?

So then, send to me skilled men to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue fabric, knowledgeable in engraving, with the skilled men who [are] with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father has established.

Send me trees of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon, for I myself know that your servants [are] knowledgeable in cutting the trees of Lebanon. Now see, my servants [will be] with your servants

a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father [was] a man of Tyre, knowledgeable for working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and crimson fabric, and with fine linen, for engraving any engraving and devising any plan that is given to him, with your skilled men and the skilled men of my lord David your father.

And we ourselves will cut trees from Lebanon according to all your need, and we will bring them to you on rafts over the sea to Joppa, so that you may bring them up to Jerusalem."

Then Solomon counted all the resident alien men who [were] in the land of Israel after the census that David his father had taken of them. And there were found one hundred and fifty-three thousand.

Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had established, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And he began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.

Now these [were] the measurements of Solomon for building the house of God: the length in cubits by the former measurement [was] sixty cubits, and the width [was] twenty cubits.

The length of the [outstretched] wings of the cherubim [were] twenty cubits; one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house, and the other wing of five cubits [was] touching the [outstretched] wing of the other cherub.

The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they were standing on their feet, their faces toward the house.

Under it [were] figures of oxen all around it, ten cubits [high], encircling the sea all around. The oxen [were] in two rows {cast as one piece with it}.

the two columns, the bowls, and the two capitals on top of the columns, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that [were] on top of the columns,

and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for the latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that [were] before the columns.

So Solomon made all the objects that [were in] the house of God: the altar of gold; the tables upon which [was] the bread of the presence;

and the blossoms, the lamps, and the tongs that [were] of solid gold;

and the snuffers, the drinking bowls, the dishes, and the firepans, of solid gold; and the entrance to the house, the inner doors to {the most holy place}, and the doors to the house of the temple [were] of gold.

And they brought up the ark, the tent of assembly, and all the holy objects that [were] in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.

And King Solomon and the whole community of Israel that was assembled before him [were] before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted nor numbered for abundance.

The cherubim were spreading [their] wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim were covering the ark and over its poles [from] above.

But the poles were [so] long that the ends of the poles from the ark were seen from before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from the outside. And they are there until this day.

And when the priests came out of the sanctuary (for all the priests who were present sanctified themselves without keeping their divisions)

and all the Levitical singers--Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, their sons, their brothers, dressed [in] fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and stringed instruments--[they] were standing to the east of the altar. And with them outside [were] one hundred and twenty priests [who were] trumpet blowers.

And the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God.

Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel were standing.

But Yahweh said to David my father, 'Because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart,

but you yourself will not build the house, but your son who will proceed from your loins; he himself will build the house for my name.'

And he said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is none like you, a God in the heavens and on the earth, keeping the covenant and loyal love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart,

that you have kept for your servant David my father what you spoke to him. You spoke with your mouth, and by your hand you have fulfilled [it] on this day.

And now, O Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David, my father, what you have spoken to him, saying, '{You shall not lack} a man to sit on the throne of Israel before me, if only your sons keep their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.'

And now, O Yahweh, God of Israel, let your word that you have spoken to your servant David be confirmed.

But turn to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Yahweh my God, to hearken to the pleading and to the prayer that your servant is praying before you,

that your eyes may be open day and night to this house, to the place that you have promised to place your name there, that you may hear the prayer that your servant has prayed to this place.

And listen to the pleas of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place, that you yourself might hear from the place of your dwelling, from the heavens, that you might hear and forgive.

"If a man sins against his neighbor and {makes him swear an oath} and comes [with] an oath before your altar in this house,

then may you yourself hear from the heavens and act and judge your servants, to repay the guilty by bringing his way upon his head and to vindicate the righteous by giving to him according to his righteousness.

"And if your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against you and they repent and confess your name and pray and plead before you in this house,

then may you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel and again bring them back to the land that you gave to them and to their ancestors.

"When the heavens are stopped up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you and they pray to this place and confess your name and turn back from their sin when you humble them,

then may you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance.

[then] any prayer, any plea that is [made] by any person and by all your people Israel, each one who knows his own affliction and his own anguish and [who] spreads out his hands to this house,

then may you yourself hear from the heavens, your dwelling place, and forgive and give to each according to all his ways, since you know the heart of the children of humankind,

that they may fear you [and] walk in your ways all the days that they [are] alive upon the face of the land that you have given to our ancestors.

"And also, with respect to the foreigner, he who [is] not of your people Israel, but comes from a distant land, for the sake of your great name and your powerful hand and outstretched arm, when he comes and prays to this house,

then may you yourself hear from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner asks of you, so that all peoples of earth will know of your name and fear you, as [do] your people Israel, and that they may know that your name {possesses} this house that I have built.

"When your people go out to battle against their enemy according to the way that you have sent them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,

When they sin against you--for there is no person who does not sin--and you become angry with them and place them before their enemy that they carry them away as captives to a land far or near,

but {if they repent} in the land where they were taken captive and {repent} and beg you for mercy in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and acted perversely and done wickedly,

and we return to you,' with their whole heart and with all their inmost being in the land of their captivity where they took them captive, and [if] they pray toward their land that you have given to their ancestors and the city that you have chosen and to the house that I have built for your name,

then may you hear their prayer and their pleas from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and uphold their case and forgive your people who sinned against you.

Now, O my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place!

"And now arise, O Yahweh God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! O Yahweh God, let the priests be clothed with salvation, and let your holy ones rejoice in your goodness!

O Yahweh God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember the loyal love of your servant, David!"

And the priests were not able to go into the house of Yahweh, for the glory of Yahweh had filled the house.

Then the king and all the people were offering a sacrifice before Yahweh.

Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

[then if] my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their evil ways, then I myself shall hear from the heavens and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

Now [as for] you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked and do according to all that I have commanded you and will keep my ordinances and judgments,

then I will establish the throne of your kingdom as I promised to David your father, saying, 'A man shall not be cut off for you [from] ruling over Israel.'

All the people who remained from the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites who were not from Israel,

from the descendants who were left over after them in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed, Solomon conscripted them as forced labor until this day.

But from the {Israelites} Solomon did not give as servants for his work, but they [were] men of war, his commanders of his officers, and commanders of his chariots and his horses.

And these [were] the commanders of the garrisons that belonged to King Solomon, two hundred and fifty who exercised authority over the people.

And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for those [places] to which the ark of Yahweh has come [are] holy.

And she said to the king, "The word which I heard in my land concerning your words and your wisdom [is] true,

but I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not reported to me; you surpass the rumors that I had heard.

Blessed [are] your men, and blessed [are] these your servants who stand before you regularly and hear your wisdom!

Blessed be Yahweh your God who took delight in you, to put you on his throne as king for Yahweh your God! Because your God loved Israel, he established him forever and has put you over them as king to do justice and righteousness!"

And she gave to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. And there were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

And it happened [that] the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year [was] six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

And the throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold [was] attached to the throne. And [there were] armrests {on each side}. And by {the seat} [were] two lions standing beside the armrests.

And twelve lions were standing there on [each] of the six steps {on each end}. And there was nothing like [it] made in all the kingdom.

And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon [were] of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon [were] of pure gold. Silver was not valued as anything in the days of Solomon.

And each of them brought his gifts, objects of silver, objects of gold, cloaks, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, [as] an amount year by year.

And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as the sycamore trees that [are] in the Shephelah for abundance.

And the horses [were] imported from Egypt and from all lands for Solomon.

As for the remainder of the words of Solomon [from] the first to the last, are they not written in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

And it happened [that] when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard [it]--now he [was] in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon--Jeroboam returned from Egypt.

"Your father made our yoke heavy. Now, therefore, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve you."

And they said to him, "If you will be good to this people and please them, then speak good words to them. Then they will be your servants {forever}."

But he forsook the advice of the elders that advised him and took counsel of the young men who had grown up with him who were {serving} before him.

And he said to them, "What do you advise that we should say in return to this people, who said to me, 'Lighten the yoke that your father has put upon us'?"

Then the young men who had grown up with him said to him, "Thus you should say to this people who have said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, so you yourself should lighten [it] for us.' Thus you should say to them, 'My little finger [is] thicker than the loins of my father.

And he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "I will make your yoke heavy, and I myself will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I [will do so] with scorpions."

So all Israel [saw] that the king would not listen to them, and the people answered the king, saying, "What portion [is there] for us in David? [We have] no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each to your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own house, David!" And all Israel went to their own tents.

But as for the {Israelites} who were living in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam ruled over them.

'Thus says Yahweh: "Do not go up, and do not fight against your brothers. Return, each man to his house, for this matter has come from me." '" So they obeyed the words of Yahweh and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that [are] in Judah and in Benjamin.

Now the priests and the Levites who [were] throughout all Israel took their stand with him from all their territories.

And it happened [that] in the fifth year of King Rehoboam (for they had acted unfaithfully against Yahweh), Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem