And Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that [was] at Gibeon, for the tent of assembly of God that Moses the servant of Yahweh had made in the desert was there.

(But the ark of God David had brought up from Kiriath-Jearim to [the place] David had prepared for it, for David had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.)

On that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Ask what I shall give to you."

Then Solomon said to God, "You yourself have shown steadfast loyal love to David my father and have made me king in his place.

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?"

And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

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.

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.

And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men {to bear burdens} and eighty thousand {quarriers} in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred [men] to supervise them.

And Solomon sent [word] to Huram king of Tyre, saying, "As you have dealt with David my father and sent cedar to him to build for himself a house in which to live, [please deal with me].

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

to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building [will be] great and wonderful.

Now see, I will provide twenty thousand dry measures of crushed wheat, twenty thousand dry measures of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil to the woodcarvers and those who cut timber."

Then Huram king of Tyre answered in a letter, and he sent [word] to Solomon: "Because Yahweh loves his people, he has made you king over them."

Now as for the wheat, barley, oil, and wine that my lord mentioned, let him send [that] to his servants.

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.

And he appointed from them seventy thousand {to bear burdens}, eighty thousand {to quarry} in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

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 portico that [was] in front was the same as the front of the width of the house}: twenty cubits. And its height [was] one hundred and twenty cubits. And he overlaid it on the inside with pure gold.

And the great house [itself] he covered with cypress wood, then he overlaid it with pure gold. And he put on it palm tree [images] and [ornate] chains.

And he made two sculpted wood cherubim in {the most holy place}, and he overlaid them with gold.

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.

And he made the curtain of blue and purple and crimson and fine linen, and put cherubim on it.

And at the front of the house he made two columns, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on their top was five cubits.

And he made [decorative] chains in the inner sanctuary and put [them] on top of the columns. And he made one hundred pomegranate [ornaments], and put them on the chains.

And he erected the columns in front of the temple, one on the south and one on the north. He called the name of the southern one Jakin, and the name of the northern one Boaz.

And he made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits [was] its length, and twenty cubits [was] its width, and ten cubits [was] its height.

Then he made the sea of molten metal, from brim to brim [it was] ten cubits, completely round. And [it was] five cubits in height, and {its circumference measured} thirty cubits.

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}.

And he made ten basins. And he set five on the south and five on the north in which to wash; they washed off the work of the burnt offering in them, but the sea [was] for the priests to wash therein.

And he made ten golden lampstands according to their custom, and he set [them] in the temple, five on the south and five on the north.

And he made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south and five on the north. And he made a hundred drinking bowls of gold.

And Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the drinking bowls. So Hiram finished making the work that he made on the house of God for King Solomon:

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 he made the water carts, and he made the basins on the water carts,

and the one sea and the twelve oxen underneath it.

The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay soil between Succoth and Zeredah.

Solomon made all these utensils in great abundance, for the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

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;

When all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished, Solomon brought the holy objects of David his father: the silver, the gold, and all the objects he had put into the storehouses of the house of God.

Then Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the {families} for the {Israelites}, to Jerusalem in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which [is] Zion.

And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that [is in] the seventh month.

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.

Then the priests brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, into {the most holy place}, underneath the wings of the cherubim.

There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets that Moses had put [inside] at Horeb [on] which Yahweh had {made} a covenant with the {Israelites} when they went out from Egypt.

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 it was the primary [duty] of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard [with] one voice, to praise and give thanks to Yahweh. And when a sound from the trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments of song was raised to Yahweh--for he [is] good, because his loyal love [is] everlasting--then the house, the house of Yahweh, was filled with a cloud.

Then Solomon said, "Yahweh has decided to dwell in the deep gloom.

But I have built for you an exalted house, even a place for you to dwell in forever."

'From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in order for my name [to be] there. Nor did I choose a man to be leader over my people Israel.

But I have chosen my name to be there in Jerusalem, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

Now, it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

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,

Now Yahweh has fulfilled his word that he spoke. I have risen in the place of David my father and am seated on the throne of Israel as Yahweh has spoken. I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

And I have there the ark [in] which [is] the covenant of Yahweh that he {made} with the {Israelites}."

(For Solomon had made a platform of bronze five cubits long and five cubits wide and three cubits high, and placed it in the midst of the outer court.) And he stood upon it, then knelt down on his knees before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands to heaven.

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 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,

"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,

"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.

"If there is a famine in the land; if there is disease, blight, mildew, locust, and caterpillar; if it happens that his enemy lays siege to him in the land [and] his gates; any kind of plague, any kind of disease,

[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,

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,

"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,

"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 when Solomon finished praying, then fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of Yahweh filled the house.

When all the {Israelites} saw the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, they knelt down [with their] faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to Yahweh, for [he is] good, for his loyal love [is] everlasting.

And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

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

And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents rejoicing and festive of heart on account of the goodness that Yahweh had done for David, Solomon, and Israel his people.

And Solomon finished the house of Yahweh and the house of the king. And all that came into the heart of Solomon to do with respect to the house of Yahweh and his own house he accomplished.

When I hold back the heavens so that there is not rain, and when I command the locust to devour the earth, and if I send disease among my people,

And it happened [that] at the end of twenty years [in] which Solomon had built the house of Yahweh and his own house,

Solomon also built the cities that Huram had given to him, and he settled the {Israelites} in them.

And he built Tadmor in the desert, and he built all the storage cities in Hamath.

Baalath and all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon; all the cities for chariots and cities for horses; and any desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

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.

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.

Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of Yahweh that he had built before the portico,

And in accord with the ordinance of David his father he appointed working groups of priests for their service, Levites for their responsibilities for praise and cultic service before the priests {according to the daily requirement}, and the gatekeepers in their working groups, gate by gate. For thus David the man of God had commanded.

Then Solomon went to Ezion-Geber, and to Elath, on the edge of the sea in the land of Edom.

Now the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, with much wealth and camels, bearing spices and much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and told him all that [was] {on her mind}.

When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon and the house he had built,

and the food of his table, and the position of his officers, the duty of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of Yahweh, there was no longer any breath in her.

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