The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.

But who is able to build a temple for Him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him? Who am I then that I should build a temple for Him except as a place to burn incense before Him?

And now send me a man skilful to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in iron, and in purple and crimson and blue, and experienced in carving, besides the skilful men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.

Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants

even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house that I build shall be great and wonderful.

And behold, I will give to thy servants the hewers that fell 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.

In a letter that he sent to Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre wrote, "Because he loves his people, the LORD has placed you as king over them."

And Huram said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, that made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah and a house for his kingdom.

He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David.

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."

Solomon took a census of all the foreign men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted, and the total was 153,600.

And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people at work.

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

These are the foundations that Solomon set in place for God's Temple. The length in terms of the former standard measurements: 60 cubits; its width: 20 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 he made the house most holy, whose length was twenty cubits like to the breadth of the house, and the breadth thereof was also twenty cubits. And he overlaid it with the best gold, that drew to the sum of six hundred talents.

So that the wings of the said Cherubs raught twenty cubits. And they stood on their feet and looked inwards.

And before the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits long; and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

And he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; and he called the name of that on the right Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

And the images of oxen did compass it round about under it: that is to wit, two rows of oxen cast when it was cast did compass that sea which was ten cubits wide, round about.

It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold 18,000 gallons.

And he made ten lavers, and set five on the right hand - and five on the left, to bathe therein, what is offered as an ascending-sacrifice, do they rinse therein, - but, the sea, was, that the priests should bathe therein.

Then Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple:

two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars;

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.

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.

Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar; and the tables whereon was the shewbread;

Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold;

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

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

At that time Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, that is, Zion.

And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that of the seventh month.

They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many.

And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles.

The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are there to this very day.

Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb, where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.

And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place (for all the priests that were present were hallowed without observing the courses;

the Levites with all those that were under Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, and among their children and brethren, were arrayed in bysse and sang with cymbals, psalteries, and harps standing East from the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets.

it happened, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, [saying], "For he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever!" that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of Yahweh,

so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God.

Then said Solomon: Jehovah said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

Now I have constructed a magnificent temple dedicated to you that will serve as a place for you to inhabit forever."

And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,

“Since the day I brought My people Israel
out of the land of Egypt,
I have not chosen a city to build a temple in
among any of the tribes of Israel,
so that My name would be there,
and I have not chosen a man
to be ruler over My people Israel.

But I have chosen Jerusalem
so that My name will be there,
and I have chosen David
to be over My people Israel.”

And so it came to pass, that it was near the heart of David my father, - to build a house, to the Name of Yahweh, God of Israel.

But Jehovah said to David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart;

nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

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.

I have put the ark there,
where Yahweh’s covenant is
that He made with the Israelites.

Now Solomon had made a brazen pulpit of five cubits long and five cubits broad, and three of height, and had set it in the midst of the great court, upon that he stepped and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel and stretched out his hands to heaven,

and said, Jehovah, God of Israel! there is no God like thee, in the heavens or on the earth, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee 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, Jehovah, 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 on the throne of Israel, if only thy sons take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

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

"But will God indeed dwell with humankind upon the earth? Look, the heavens and {the highest heavens} cannot contain you! Surely then this house that I have built [will not contain you!]

Listen to Your servant’s prayer and his petition,
Lord my God,
so that You may hear the cry and the prayer
that Your servant prays before You,

so that Your eyes watch over this temple
day and night,
toward the place where You said
You would put Your name;
and so that You may hear the prayer
Your servant prays toward 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.

then hear thou from heaven, and work and judge thy servants, that thou reward the evil and bring his way upon his head, and justify the righteous and give him according to his righteousness.

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.

If heaven be shut up, that there be no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray at this place and confess thy name and turn from their sins at thy scourging;

may You hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of Your servants
and Your people Israel,
so that You may teach them the good way
they should walk in.
May You send rain on Your land
that You gave Your people for 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,

so that they may fear You
and walk in Your ways
all the days they live on the land
You gave our ancestors.

Moreover concerning the foreigner, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thine outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house:

may You hear in heaven in Your dwelling place,
and do all the foreigner asks You.
Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name,
to fear You as Your people Israel do
and know that this temple I have built
is called by Your name.

When Your people go out to fight against their enemies,
wherever You send them,
and they pray to You
in the direction of this city You have chosen
and the temple 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,

And if they take thought, in the land where they are prisoners, turning again to you, crying out in prayer to you in that land, and saying, We are sinners, we have done wrong, we have done evil;

and when they return to You with their whole mind and heart
in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive,
and when they pray in the direction of their land
that You gave their ancestors,
and the city You have chosen,
and toward the temple I have built for Your name,

then wilt thou hear out of the heavens - out of the settled place of thine abode - their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, - and forgive thy people, that wherein they sinned against thee?

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

Now therefore:

Arise, Lord God, come to Your resting place,
You and Your powerful ark.
May Your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
and may Your godly people rejoice in goodness.

so that the priests could not enter into the house of Yahweh, - because the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh;

And all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the LORD upon the house, and stooped with their faces to the earth upon the pavement and bowed themselves and confessed unto the LORD, that he was good and that his mercy lasted ever.

So that king Solomon offered twenty two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. And so the king and all the people hallowed the house of God.

And the priests stood at their posts with the Levites, with the instruments of the song of Yahweh that King David had made to give thanks to Yahweh--for his loyal love [is] everlasting--whenever David offered praise by their hand. Now the priests sounded trumpets [standing] opposite them, and all Israel stood.

Since the bronze altar that Solomon had made could not accommodate the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, Solomon first consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord’s temple and then offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there.

So Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly, from the entrance to Hamath to the Brook of Egypt—observed the festival at that time for 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.

So Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. Everything that had entered Solomon’s heart to do for the Lord’s temple and for his own palace succeeded.

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,

Yet if my people that are named after my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my presence, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and be merciful to their sins, and will heal their land.

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

And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My name may be there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there at all times.

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 seat of thy kingdom, according to the covenant I made with David thy father, saying: thou shalt have ever one or other that shall rule in Israel.

However, if you turn away and abandon My statutes and My commands that I have set before you and if you go and serve other gods and worship them,

then I will uproot Israel from the soil that I gave them, and this temple that I have sanctified for My name I will banish from My presence; I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passes by it; so that he shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house?

Others will then answer, 'Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.'"

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.

He built Tadmor in the wilderness along with all the storage cities that he built in Hamath.