And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

Then Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers.

So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon: for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I shall give thee.

And Solomon said to God, Thou hast shown great mercy to David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.

Now, O LORD God, let thy promise to David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy great people?

And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thy enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:

And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance.

And Solomon numbered out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.

And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house to dwell in it, even so deal with me.

Behold, I build a house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual show-bread, and for the burnt-offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.

Send me now therefore a man skillful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that hath skill to grave with the skillful men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.

Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,

Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderfully great.

And behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them.

The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to engrave any manner of engraving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David thy father.

Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord hath spoken of, let him send to his servants;

And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou mayest convey it to Jerusalem.

And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering with which David his father had numbered them; and they were found a hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.

And he set seventy thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people to work.

Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared to David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

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

Now these are the things in which Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the hight was a hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set on it palm trees and chains.

He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls of it, and the doors of it, with gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls.

And in the most holy house he made two cherubim of image work, and overlaid them with gold.

And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.

And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.

The wings of these cherubim spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.

Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.

And he erected the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length of it, and twenty cubits the breadth of it, and ten cubits the hight of it.

Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the hight of it; and a line of thirty cubits encompassed it.

And under it was the similitude of oxen, which encompassed it: ten in a cubit, encompassing the sea. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.

He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt-offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made a hundred basins of gold.

And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south.

To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars;

And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the capitals which were upon the pillars.

One sea, and twelve oxen under it.

In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredathah.

Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be ascertained.

And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables on which the show-bread was set;

Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, he put among the treasures of the house of God.

Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.

And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.

And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim:

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

And it came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course:

Also the Levites who were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren; being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)

It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;

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

Since the day that I brought forth my people from the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:

Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel:

But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thy heart;

The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken; for I am raised up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

And in it have I put the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

(For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven,)

And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor on the earth; who keepest covenant, and showest mercy to thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; provided thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!

Hearken therefore to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make towards this place: hear thou from thy dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

If a man shall sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath shall come before thy altar in this house;

Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

And if thy people Israel shall be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

When the heaven is shut, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray towards this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

If there shall be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies shall besiege them in the cities of their land; whatever calamity, or whatever sickness there be:

Then whatever prayer, or whatever supplication shall be made by any man, or by all the people of Israel, when every one shall know his own calamity, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers.

Moreover concerning the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but hath come from a distant country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy out-stretched arm; if they come and pray in this house;

Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray to thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray towards their land which thou gavest to their fathers, and towards the city which thou hast chosen, and towards the house which I have built for thy name:

Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thy eyes be open, and let thy ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshiped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

And on the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.

Now my eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

Then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus to this land, and to this house?

And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

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, because the places are holy, to which the ark of the LORD hath come.

Then Solomon offered burnt-offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,

Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.