Solomon addressed the entire nation of Israel, including the commanders of thousands and hundreds, the judges, all the other leaders of Israel, and all of the heads of the ancestral houses of Israel.

Also, the bronze altar that Uri's son Bezalel, Hur's grandson had erected, was in place in front of the LORD's tent. Solomon and the assembly sought the LORD there.

Solomon approached the presence of the LORD at the bronze altar that had been placed at the Tent of Meeting and offered 1,000 burnt offerings on it.

That very night God appeared to Solomon and told him, "Ask what I am to give you."

Solomon replied to God, "You showed great gracious love to my father David, and have established me as king in his place.

Give me wisdom now, so I may go in and out among this people, because who can rule this great people that belongs to you?

God told Solomon, "Since you had this in mind, to ask neither to focus on riches, wealth, honor, or the lives of those who hate you, nor have you requested a long life, but instead you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may rule my people over whom I have established you as king,

wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. Furthermore, I will give you riches, wealth, and honor such as none of the kings owned who lived before you and none after you are to ever attain their equal."

Solomon amassed both chariots and horsemen: he owned 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, stationing them in armories and with the king in Jerusalem.

The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and made cedar trees as plentiful as sycamore trees that grow in the Shephelah.

Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king's procurement officials obtained them from Kue at great price.

Chariots were imported from Egypt for 600 shekels each, and horses cost 150 shekels each, and then they exported them to all of the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram.

So Solomon conscripted 70,000 men to do heavy work, 80,000 men to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 to supervise them.

"Just as you did with my father David, sending him cedars to build him a palace to live in, do the same for me. Look, I'm building a temple dedicated to the name of the LORD my God, to his glory, so we can burn fragrant incense in his presence, display rows of the bread of his presence continuously, and make burnt offerings in the morning, evening, on Sabbath days, during New Moon festivals, and during appointed festivals scheduled by the LORD our God. This is mandated forever in Israel.

"At any rate, send me an individual who is a skilled craftsman in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as in purple, crimson, and blue materials, who knows how to craft engravings, so he may work with the craftsmen whom I have assembled in Judah and Jerusalem, as provided for by my father David.

Also send me cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, since I'm aware that your servants know how to cut down timber from Lebanon. My servants will accompany your servants

to prepare an abundant amount of timber for me, because the Temple that I'm building is to be great and awesome.

"Now look! I will pay your servants, the lumberjacks who prepare the timber, 20,000 measures of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil."

Hiram also wrote: "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth. He gave King David a wise son, who is acquainted with discretion and understanding, and who is building a temple to the LORD, as well as a royal palace for himself.

He is the son of a mother from the tribe of Dan, and his father is from Tyre. He's skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and timber, as well as in purple, blue, linen, and crimson materials. He is skilled in engravings, and can craft any design to which he may be assigned. He will work with your skilled artisans and with all of your craftsmen who have been assigned by my lord David, your father.

"So then, may my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine about which he has spoken.

We'll cut down the timber you need from Lebanon and transport it to you on rafts by sea to Joppa, so you can move it to Jerusalem."

Solomon took a census of all the non-Israeli men who lived in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had taken, and 153,600 were counted.

He conscripted 70,000 of them to do heavy work, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 men to supervise the people.

A portico extended in front of the Temple for its entire width of 20 cubits, and was 120 cubits high. Inside he had it overlaid with pure gold.

The main room of the Temple was trimmed with a wainscoting composed of cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold ornamented with palm trees and chains.

The Temple was overlaid with gold, including the beams, thresholds, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.

With respect to the Most Holy Place in the Temple, its length across the width of the Temple was 20 cubits, and its width extended 20 cubits.

He crafted two cherubim from wood, overlaid them with gold, and placed them in the Most Holy Place in the Temple.

The wingspan of the cherubim was 20 cubits; the wing of one, five cubits long, touched the wall of the Temple, and its other wing, five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub.

The wing of the other cherub, five cubits long, touched the opposite wall of the Temple and its other wing, five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub.

The wings of these cherubim extended for 20 cubits as they stood on their feet and faced the front of the Temple.

He constructed the veil from blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, embroidering cherubim on it.

He crafted chains for the inner sanctuary and placed them on top of the pillars, attaching 100 pomegranates to each of the chains.

He set up the pillars at the front of the Temple, one on the south side of the entrance and the other on the north side of the entrance. He named the south pillar Jachin and the north pillar Boaz.

Solomon also constructed a bronze altar 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

He crafted a circular sea of cast metal 10 cubits from rim to rim and five cubits tall. A line 30 cubits long surrounded it.

Underneath, figurines resembling oxen encircled the circular sea beneath it, ten oxen every cubit, and encircling the sea completely. The oxen were in two rows, cast all at the same time.

The sea stood on top of twelve oxen, three of which faced to the north, three of which faced to the west, three of which faced to the south, and three of which faced toward the east. The sea was placed on top of the oxen, with all of their hindquarters turned inwards.

Solomon also made ten wash basins, placing five on the right side and five on the left. The basins were intended for use to rinse burnt offerings, and the sea was intended for use by the priests to wash in.

Solomon made ten gold lamp stands as he had been directed and set them in the Temple, five on the south side and five on the north side.

He also made ten tables and placed them in the Temple, five on the right side and five on the left side. He also constructed 100 gold basins.

He made the court of the priests, the great court, and doors for the court, overlaying their doors with bronze.

Hiram-abi crafted the pots, shovels, and basins, thus completing the work that he did for King Solomon on the Temple of God;

along with its pots, shovels, forks, and all of its other implements that Hiram-abi made from polished bronze for King Solomon and the LORD's Temple.

The king had them forged in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah in the Jordan plain.

the lamp stands and their lamps made of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary, as required,

the pure gold ornaments in the shape of flowers, the lamps, and the tongs (all made of the purest gold),

the gold trimming instruments, basins, pans, censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (that is, the Most Holy Place), and for the doors to the main hall of the Temple.

As soon as Solomon had completed the LORD's Temple, he installed the holy items that had belonged to his father David, including the silver, gold, and all the other items in the treasure rooms of God's Temple.

Then Solomon called Israel's elders together, including all the leaders of the tribes and families of Israel. They met in Jerusalem to transfer the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.

and carried it, the tent where God met with his people, and all of the sacred implements that belonged in the tent. The Levitical priests carried these up to the City of David.

King Solomon and all the Israelis who had assembled together proceeded ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and oxen than could be counted or recorded due to the number of sacrifices.

The priests transported the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD to the place created for it within the inner sanctuary of the Temple, into the Most Holy Place under the wings of the cherubim.

The wings of the cherubim extended over where the ark and its carrying poles had been placed,

All the musicians who were descendants of Levi, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives wore linen and played cymbals and stringed instruments as they stood east of the altar. Accompanied by 120 priests who played trumpets,

the trumpeters and musicians played in union, praising and giving thanks to the LORD. They praised the LORD loudly and sang, "He is good, and his gracious love is eternal," accompanied by the trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments.) As they did this, a cloud filled the Temple, that is, the LORD's Temple,

and the priests were unable to complete their duties because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD had filled God's Temple.

Then Solomon prayed: "Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what he had promised when he said:

"From the day I brought out my people from the land of Egypt I never chose a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple where my name might reside. And I never chose any man to become Commander-in-Chief over my people Israel.

But I have chosen Jerusalem, where my name will reside. And I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

"The LORD has brought to fulfillment what he promised, and now here I stand, having succeeded my father David to sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the Temple for the name of the Lord GOD of Israel.

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands.

Solomon had a bronze platform constructed five cubits square and three cubits high. He had it erected in the middle of the courtyard, and stood on it. Then he knelt down on his knees in front of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,

and said:

"LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God of heaven and earth, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who has kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today.

and yet, will God truly reside on earth with human beings? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built!

Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence.

Let your eyes always look toward this Temple day and night, toward the location where you have said you would place your name. Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction.

Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, and listen from the place where you reside from heaven! then hear and forgive.

"If a man sins against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple,

then listen from heaven, act, and judge your servants, recompensing the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness.

"If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them,

then hear from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to them and to their ancestors.

"When the skies remain closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them,

then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance.

whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own illness and anguish and stretching out their hands toward this Temple,

then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of human beings

so they will fear you and live life your way as long as they live in the land that you have given to our ancestors.

"Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power, when they come and pray in the direction of this Temple,

then hear from heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name.

"When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to you in the direction of this city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name,

then hear their prayer and their request from heaven, and fight for their cause.

"When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to a land that's near or far away,

if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land where they have been taken captive confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,'

if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land where they have been taken captive, as they pray in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name,

then hear their prayer and requests from heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you.

"And now, my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers that are uttered in this place.

"And now may the LORD God arise, to your place of rest, you, and the ark of your power! Let your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and cause your godly ones to find their joy in what is good.

As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire descended from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the Temple.

The priests could not enter into the Temple because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's Temple.

When all of the Israelis saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD resting on the Temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement, worshipped, and gave thanks to the LORD, "Because he is good; because his gracious love is eternal."

Then the king and all the people kept on offering sacrifices in the presence of the LORD.

King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, which is how the king and all of the people dedicated God's Temple.

Solomon also dedicated the middle of the court in front of the LORD's Temple by offering there burnt offerings and fat from peace offerings because the bronze altar that Solomon had made could not contain the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat portion offerings.

At that time Solomon also held a week-long festival attended by all of Israel. The assembly was very large, and included people from as far away as Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt.

On the day after the festival ended, they convened a solemn assembly, because they had been dedicating the altar for seven days and observing the festival for seven days.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, King Solomon sent the people back home, and they returned rejoicing and in good spirits because of the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel.

And so Solomon completed the LORD's Temple, bringing to completion everything that he had planned on doing for the LORD's Temple and for his own palace.

Later, the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night and told him: