Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Achish » David escapes to
So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath. The servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying, 'Saul struck down his thousands, But David his tens of thousands'?" David thought about what they said and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath. read more.
He altered his behavior in their presence. Since he was in their power, he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, "Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me? Do I have a shortage of fools, that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?"
He altered his behavior in their presence. Since he was in their power, he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, "Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me? Do I have a shortage of fools, that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?"
In those days the Philistines gathered their troops for war in order to fight Israel. Achish said to David, "You should fully understand that you and your men must go with me into the battle." David replied to Achish, "That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!" Achish said to David, "Then I will make you my bodyguard from now on."
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath.
Fugitives » Instances of » From slavery, shimei's servants
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath."
Verse Concepts
Gath » Shimei's servants escape to
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned,
Government » Monarchical » By solomon
His wife Jezebel said to him, "You are the king of Israel! Get up, eat some food, and have a good time. I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you." She wrote out orders, signed Ahab's name to them, and sealed them with his seal. She then sent the orders to the leaders and to the nobles who lived in Naboth's city. This is what she wrote: "Observe a time of fasting and seat Naboth in front of the people. read more.
Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then take him out and stone him to death." The men of the city, the leaders and the nobles who lived there, followed the written orders Jezebel had sent them. They observed a time of fasting and put Naboth in front of the people. The two villains arrived and sat opposite him. Then the villains testified against Naboth right before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they dragged him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they reported to Jezebel, "Naboth has been stoned to death." When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Get up, take possession of the vineyard Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive; he's dead." When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then take him out and stone him to death." The men of the city, the leaders and the nobles who lived there, followed the written orders Jezebel had sent them. They observed a time of fasting and put Naboth in front of the people. The two villains arrived and sat opposite him. Then the villains testified against Naboth right before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they dragged him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they reported to Jezebel, "Naboth has been stoned to death." When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Get up, take possession of the vineyard Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive; he's dead." When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, "May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life! Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David's throne, and established a dynasty for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!" King Solomon then sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah.
When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down." When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply. read more.
The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he -- Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness.
The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he -- Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness.
Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere! If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. read more.
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.
Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, for all Israel had gathered in Shechem to make Rehoboam king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. They sent for him, and Jeroboam and the whole Israelite assembly came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, read more.
"Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don't make us work as hard, we will serve you." He said to them, "Go away for three days, then return to me." So the people went away. King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, "How do you advise me to answer these people?" They said to him, "Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward." But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. He asked them, "How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, 'Lessen the demands your father placed on us'?" The young advisers with whom Rehoboam had grown up said to him, "Say this to these people who have said to you, 'Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.' Say this to them: 'I am a lot harsher than my father! My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.'" Jeroboam and all the people reported to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered when he said, "Return to me on the third day." The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men and followed the advice of the younger ones. He said, "My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh." The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, "We have no portion in David, no share in the son of Jesse! Return to your homes, O Israel! Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!" So Israel returned to their homes.
"Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don't make us work as hard, we will serve you." He said to them, "Go away for three days, then return to me." So the people went away. King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, "How do you advise me to answer these people?" They said to him, "Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward." But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. He asked them, "How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, 'Lessen the demands your father placed on us'?" The young advisers with whom Rehoboam had grown up said to him, "Say this to these people who have said to you, 'Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.' Say this to them: 'I am a lot harsher than my father! My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.'" Jeroboam and all the people reported to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered when he said, "Return to me on the third day." The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men and followed the advice of the younger ones. He said, "My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh." The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, "We have no portion in David, no share in the son of Jesse! Return to your homes, O Israel! Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!" So Israel returned to their homes.
Homicide » Instances of felonious » Solomon
King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, "May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life! Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David's throne, and established a dynasty for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!" King Solomon then sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah. read more.
The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times." Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down." When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply. The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he -- Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness. The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar's place. Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere! If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.
The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times." Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down." When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply. The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he -- Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness. The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar's place. Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere! If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.
Kings » Who reigned over all israel » Solomon
Zadok the priest took a horn filled with olive oil from the tent and poured it on Solomon; the trumpet was blown and all the people declared, "Long live King Solomon!" All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake. Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the commotion just as they had finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, "Why is there such a noisy commotion in the city?" read more.
As he was still speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, "Come in, for an important man like you must be bringing good news." Jonathan replied to Adonijah: "No! Our master King David has made Solomon king. The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites and they put him on the king's mule. Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gihon. They went up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That is the sound you hear. Furthermore, Solomon has assumed the royal throne. The king's servants have even come to congratulate our master King David, saying, 'May your God make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!' Then the king leaned on the bed and said this: 'The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.'" All of Adonijah's guests panicked; they jumped up and rushed off their separate ways. Adonijah feared Solomon, so he got up and went and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. Solomon was told, "Look, Adonijah fears you; see, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, 'May King Solomon solemnly promise me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.'" Solomon said, "If he is a loyal subject, not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, he will die." King Solomon sent men to bring him down from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon told him, "Go home." When David was close to death, he told Solomon his son: "I am about to die. Be strong and become a man! Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you by following his instructions and obeying his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish, and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me, 'If your descendants watch their step and live faithfully in my presence with all their heart and being, then,' he promised, 'you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.' "You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me -- how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle; when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet. Do to him what you think is appropriate, but don't let him live long and die a peaceful death. "Treat fairly the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs, because they helped me when I had to flee from your brother Absalom. "Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim. He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised him by the Lord, 'I will not strike you down with the sword.' But now don't treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him; make sure he has a bloody death." Then David passed away and was buried in the city of David. David reigned over Israel forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years, and in Jerusalem thirty-three years. Solomon sat on his father David's throne, and his royal authority was firmly solidified. Haggith's son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked, "Do you come in peace?" He answered, "Yes." He added, "I have something to say to you." She replied, "Speak." He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine and all Israel considered me king. But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the Lord decided it should be his. Now I'd like to ask you for just one thing. Please don't refuse me." She said, "Go ahead and ask." He said, "Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won't refuse you." Bathsheba replied, "That's fine, I'll speak to the king on your behalf." So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah's behalf. The king got up to greet her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand. She said, "I would like to ask you for just one small favor. Please don't refuse me." He said, "Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you." She said, "Allow Abishag the Shunammite to be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife." King Solomon answered his mother, "Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him? Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!" King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, "May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life! Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David's throne, and established a dynasty for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!" King Solomon then sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah. The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times." Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down." When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply. The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he -- Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness. The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar's place. Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere! If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom. Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh's daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. Now the people were offering sacrifices at the high places, because in those days a temple had not yet been built to honor the Lord. Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the Lord by following the practices of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. Solomon would offer up a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there. One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said, "Tell me what I should give you." Solomon replied, "You demonstrated great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David's place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced. Your servant stands among your chosen people; they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning mind so he can make judicial decisions for your people and distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours." The Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request. God said to him, "Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, I grant your request, and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. Furthermore, I am giving you what you did not request -- riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation. If you follow my instructions by obeying my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, then I will grant you long life." Solomon then woke up and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord's covenant, offered up burnt sacrifices, presented peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants. Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of the women said, "My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house. Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us. This woman's child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms. I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby." The other woman said, "No! My son is alive; your son is dead!" But the first woman replied, "No, your son is dead; my son is alive." Each presented her case before the king. The king said, "One says, 'My son is alive; your son is dead,' while the other says, 'No, your son is dead; my son is alive.'" The king ordered, "Get me a sword!" So they placed a sword before the king. The king then said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!" The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said, "My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don't kill him!" But the other woman said, "Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!" The king responded, "Give the first woman the living child; don't kill him. She is the mother." When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected the king, for they realized that he possessed supernatural wisdom to make judicial decisions. King Solomon ruled over all Israel. These were his officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest. Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, wrote down what happened. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records. Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were priests. Azariah son of Nathan was supervisor of the district governors. Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king. Ahishar was supervisor of the palace. Adoniram son of Abda was supervisor of the work crews. Solomon had twelve district governors appointed throughout Israel who acquired supplies for the king and his palace. Each was responsible for one month in the year. These were their names: Ben-Hur was in charge of the hill country of Ephraim. Ben-Deker was in charge of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan. Ben-Hesed was in charge of Arubboth; he controlled Socoh and all the territory of Hepher. Ben-Abinadab was in charge of Naphath Dor. (He was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath.) Baana son of Ahilud was in charge of Taanach and Megiddo, as well as all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah and on past Jokmeam. Ben-Geber was in charge of Ramoth Gilead; he controlled the tent villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan, including sixty large walled cities with bronze bars locking their gates. Ahinadab son of Iddo was in charge of Mahanaim. Ahimaaz was in charge of Naphtali. (He married Solomon's daughter Basemath.) Baana son of Hushai was in charge of Asher and Aloth. Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was in charge of Issachar. Shimei son of Ela was in charge of Benjamin. Geber son of Uri was in charge of the land of Gilead (the territory which had once belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites and to King Og of Bashan). He was sole governor of the area. The people of Judah and Israel were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore; they had plenty to eat and drink and were happy. Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms paid tribute as Solomon's subjects throughout his lifetime. Each day Solomon's royal court consumed thirty cors of finely milled flour, sixty cors of cereal, ten calves fattened in the stall, twenty calves from the pasture, and a hundred sheep, not to mention rams, gazelles, deer, and well-fed birds. His royal court was so large because he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River from Tiphsah to Gaza; he was at peace with all his neighbors. All the people of Judah and Israel had security; everyone from Dan to Beer Sheba enjoyed the produce of their vines and fig trees throughout Solomon's lifetime. Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses. The district governors acquired supplies for King Solomon and all who ate in his royal palace. Each was responsible for one month in the year; they made sure nothing was lacking. Each one also brought to the assigned location his quota of barley and straw for the various horses. God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding was as infinite as the sand on the seashore. Solomon was wiser than all the men of the east and all the sages of Egypt. He was wiser than any man, including Ethan the Ezrahite or Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the neighboring nations. He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. He produced manuals on botany, describing every kind of plant, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on walls. He also produced manuals on biology, describing animals, birds, insects, and fish. People from all nations came to hear Solomon's display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom. King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father's place. (Hiram had always been an ally of David.) Solomon then sent this message to Hiram: "You know that my father David was unable to build a temple to honor the Lord his God, for he was busy fighting battles on all fronts while the Lord subdued his enemies. But now the Lord my God has made me secure on all fronts; there is no adversary or dangerous threat. So I have decided to build a temple to honor the Lord my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, 'Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.' So now order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants. I will pay your servants whatever you say is appropriate, for you know that we have no one among us who knows how to cut down trees like the Sidonians." When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was very happy. He said, "The Lord is worthy of praise today because he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation." Hiram then sent this message to Solomon: "I received the message you sent to me. I will give you all the cedars and evergreens you need. My servants will bring the timber down from Lebanon to the sea. I will send it by sea in raft-like bundles to the place you designate. There I will separate the logs and you can carry them away. In exchange you will supply the food I need for my royal court." So Hiram supplied the cedars and evergreens Solomon needed, and Solomon supplied Hiram annually with 20,000 cors of wheat as provision for his royal court, as well as 20,000 baths of pure olive oil. So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. And Hiram and Solomon were at peace and made a treaty. King Solomon conscripted work crews from throughout Israel, 30,000 men in all. He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. Adoniram was supervisor of the work crews. Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, besides 3,300 officials who supervised the workers. By royal order they supplied large valuable stones in order to build the temple's foundation with chiseled stone. Solomon's and Hiram's construction workers, along with men from Byblos, did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple. In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, during the month Ziv (the second month), he began building the Lord's temple. The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The porch in front of the main hall of the temple was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple. It was 15 feet wide, extending out from the front of the temple. He made framed windows for the temple. He built an extension all around the walls of the temple's main hall and holy place and constructed side rooms in it. The bottom floor of the extension was seven and a half feet wide, the middle floor nine feet wide, and the third floor ten and a half feet wide. He made ledges on the temple's outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls. As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built. The entrance to the bottom level of side rooms was on the south side of the temple; stairs went up to the middle floor and then on up to the third floor. He finished building the temple and covered it with rafters and boards made of cedar. He built an extension all around the temple; it was seven and a half feet high and it was attached to the temple by cedar beams. The Lord said to Solomon: "As for this temple you are building, if you follow my rules, observe my regulations, and obey all my commandments, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David. I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel." So Solomon finished building the temple. He constructed the walls inside the temple with cedar planks; he paneled the inside with wood from the floor of the temple to the rafters of the ceiling. He covered the temple floor with boards made from the wood of evergreens. He built a wall 30 feet in from the rear of the temple as a partition for an inner sanctuary that would be the most holy place. He paneled the wall with cedar planks from the floor to the rafters. The main hall in front of the inner sanctuary was 60 feet long. The inside of the temple was all cedar and was adorned with carvings of round ornaments and of flowers in bloom. Everything was cedar; no stones were visible. He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord could be placed there. The inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He plated it with gold, as well as the cedar altar. Solomon plated the inside of the temple with gold. He hung golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary and plated the inner sanctuary with gold. He plated the entire inside of the temple with gold, as well as the altar inside the inner sanctuary. In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubs of olive wood; each stood 15 feet high. Each of the first cherub's wings was seven and a half feet long; its entire wingspan was 15 feet. The second cherub also had a wingspan of 15 feet; it was identical to the first in measurements and shape. Each cherub stood 15 feet high. He put the cherubs in the inner sanctuary of the temple. Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub's wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub's wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub's other wing touched the second cherub's other wing in the middle of the room. He plated the cherubs with gold. On all the walls around the temple, inside and out, he carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom. He plated the floor of the temple with gold, inside and out. He made doors of olive wood at the entrance to the inner sanctuary; the pillar on each doorpost was five-sided. On the two doors made of olive wood he carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold. He plated the cherubs and the palm trees with hammered gold. In the same way he made doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall, only with four-sided pillars. He also made two doors out of wood from evergreens; each door had two folding leaves. He carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom and plated them with gold, leveled out over the carvings. He built the inner courtyard with three rows of chiseled stones and a row of cedar beams. In the month Ziv of the fourth year of Solomon's reign the foundation was laid for the Lord's temple. In the eleventh year, in the month Bul (the eighth month) the temple was completed in accordance with all its specifications and blueprints. It took seven years to build. Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace. He named it "The Palace of the Lebanon Forest"; it was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars. The roof above the beams supported by the pillars was also made of cedar; there were forty-five beams, fifteen per row. There were three rows of windows arranged in sets of three. All of the entrances were rectangular in shape and they were arranged in sets of three. He made a colonnade 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch. He also made a throne room, called "The Hall of Judgment," where he made judicial decisions. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters. The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married. All of these were built with the best stones, chiseled to the right size and cut with a saw on all sides, from the foundation to the edge of the roof and from the outside to the great courtyard. The foundation was made of large valuable stones, measuring either 15 feet or 12 feet. Above the foundation the best stones, chiseled to the right size, were used along with cedar. Around the great courtyard were three rows of chiseled stones and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord's temple and the hall of the palace. King Solomon sent for Hiram of Tyre. He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. He had the skill and knowledge to make all kinds of works of bronze. He reported to King Solomon and did all the work he was assigned. He fashioned two bronze pillars; each pillar was 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference. He made two bronze tops for the pillars; each was seven-and-a-half feet high. The latticework on the tops of the pillars was adorned with ornamental wreaths and chains; the top of each pillar had seven groupings of ornaments. When he made the pillars, there were two rows of pomegranate-shaped ornaments around the latticework covering the top of each pillar. The tops of the two pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies and were six feet high. On the top of each pillar, right above the bulge beside the latticework, there were two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments arranged in rows all the way around. He set up the pillars on the porch in front of the main hall. He erected one pillar on the right side and called it Jakin; he erected the other pillar on the left side and called it Boaz. The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the construction of the pillars was completed. He also made the large bronze basin called "The Sea." It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet. Under the rim all the way around it were round ornaments arranged in settings 15 feet long. The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with "The Sea." "The Sea" stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. "The Sea" was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward. It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold about 12,000 gallons. He also made ten bronze movable stands. Each stand was six feet long, six feet wide, and four-and-a-half feet high. The stands were constructed with frames between the joints. On these frames and joints were ornamental lions, bulls, and cherubs. Under the lions and bulls were decorative wreaths. Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and four supports. Under the basin the supports were fashioned on each side with wreaths. Inside the stand was a round opening that was a foot-and-a-half deep; it had a support that was two and one-quarter feet long. On the edge of the opening were carvings in square frames. The four wheels were under the frames and the crossbars of the axles were connected to the stand. Each wheel was two and one-quarter feet high. The wheels were constructed like chariot wheels; their crossbars, rims, spokes, and hubs were made of cast metal. Each stand had four supports, one per side projecting out from the stand. On top of each stand was a round opening three-quarters of a foot deep; there were also supports and frames on top of the stands. He engraved ornamental cherubs, lions, and palm trees on the plates of the supports and frames wherever there was room, with wreaths all around. He made the ten stands in this way. All of them were cast in one mold and were identical in measurements and shape. He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons. Each basin was six feet in diameter; there was one basin for each stand. He put five basins on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put "The Sea" on the south side, in the southeast corner. Hiram also made basins, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on the Lord's temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. He made the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), the ten movable stands with their ten basins, the big bronze basin called "The Sea" with its twelve bulls underneath, and the pots, shovels, and bowls. All these items King Solomon assigned Hiram to make for the Lord's temple were made from polished bronze. The king had them cast in earth foundries in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. Solomon left all these items unweighed; there were so many of them they did not weigh the bronze. Solomon also made all these items for the Lord's temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence, the pure gold lampstands at the entrance to the inner sanctuary (five on the right and five on the left), the gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, the pure gold bowls, trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the most holy place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. When King Solomon finished constructing the Lord's temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and other articles) in the treasuries of the Lord's temple. Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel's elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord's covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion). All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month Ethanim (the seventh month). When all Israel's elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark. The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the tent. Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered. The priests brought the ark of the Lord's covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. The cherubs' wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. It was there that the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Once the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the Lord's temple. The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the Lord's glory filled his temple. Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. O Lord, truly I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently." Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. He said, "The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David. He told David, 'Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.' Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel. The Lord told my father David, 'It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.' The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David's place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky. He prayed: "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity. You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. Now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, 'You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.' Now, O God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant, my father David, be realized. "God does not really live on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you today. Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant's prayer for this place. Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably. "When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants' claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve. "The time will come when your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help in this temple, then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors. "The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them, then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. "The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their pain and spread out their hands toward this temple, then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) Then they will obey you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors. "Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation. When they hear about your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. "When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to the Lord toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them. "The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, whether far away or close by. When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, 'We have sinned and gone astray; we have done evil.' When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help and vindicate them. Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them. After all, they are your people and your special possession whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. "May you be attentive to your servant's and your people Israel's requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you. After all, you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, just as you, O sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt." When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky. When he stood up, he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice: "The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled! May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us. May he make us submissive, so we can follow all his instructions and obey the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors. May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, so that he might vindicate his servant and his people Israel as the need arises. Then all the nations of the earth will recognize that the Lord is the only genuine God. May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God by following his rules and obeying his commandments, as you are presently doing." The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord's temple. That day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord's temple. He offered there burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold all these offerings. At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south. On the fifteenth day after the festival started, he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king and then went to their homes, happy and content because of all the good the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel. After Solomon finished building the Lord's temple, the royal palace, and all the other construction projects he had planned, the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, in the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him, "I have answered your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home; I will be constantly present there. You must serve me with integrity and sincerity, just as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations. Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently, just as I promised your father David, 'You will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.' "But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods, then I will remove Israel from the land I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed among all the nations. This temple will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, saying, 'Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?' Others will then answer, 'Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.'" After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord's temple and the royal palace, King Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre twenty cities in the region of Galilee, because Hiram had supplied Solomon with cedars, evergreens, and all the gold he wanted. When Hiram went out from Tyre to inspect the cities Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. Hiram asked, "Why did you give me these cities, my friend?" He called that area the region of Cabul, a name which it has retained to this day. Hiram had sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold. Here are the details concerning the work crews King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord's temple, his palace, the terrace, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.) Solomon built up Gezer, lower Beth Horon, Baalath, Tadmor in the wilderness, all the storage cities that belonged to him, and the cities where chariots and horses were kept. He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom. Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out completely). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day. Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. These men were also in charge of Solomon's work projects; there were a total of 550 men who supervised the workers. Solomon built the terrace as soon as Pharaoh's daughter moved up from the city of David to the palace Solomon built for her. Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense along with them before the Lord. He made the temple his official worship place. King Solomon also built ships in Ezion Geber, which is located near Elat in the land of Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. Hiram sent his fleet and some of his sailors, who were well acquainted with the sea, to serve with Solomon's men. They sailed to Ophir, took from there four hundred twenty talents of gold, and then brought them to King Solomon. When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp, bringing with her camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king. When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon's extensive wisdom, the palace he had built, the food in his banquet hall, his servants and attendants, their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord's temple, she was amazed. She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight was true! I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn't hear even half the story! Your wisdom and wealth surpass what was reported to me. Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy! May the Lord your God be praised because he favored you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord's eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions." She gave the king 120 talents of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched. (Hiram's fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of fine timber and precious gems. With the timber the king made supports for the Lord's temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day.) King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her. Then she left and returned to her homeland with her attendants. Solomon received 666 talents of gold per year, besides what he collected from the merchants, traders, Arabian kings, and governors of the land. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures of gold were used for each shield. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold were used for each of these shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. There were six steps leading up to the throne, and the back of it was rounded on top. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom. All of King Solomon's cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon's time. Along with Hiram's fleet, the king had a fleet of large merchant ships that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet came into port with cargoes of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth. Everyone in the world wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom. Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules. Solomon accumulated chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands. Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt and from Que; the king's traders purchased them from Que. They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria. King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh's daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, "You must not establish friendly relations with them! If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods." But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. He had 700 royal wives and 300 concubines; his wives had a powerful influence over him. When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. Solomon did evil in the Lord's sight; he did not remain loyal to the Lord, like his father David had. Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods. The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. But he did not obey the Lord's command. So the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. However, for your father David's sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son's hand instead. But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave your son one tribe for my servant David's sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem." The Lord brought against Solomon an enemy, Hadad the Edomite, a descendant of the Edomite king. During David's campaign against Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom. For six months Joab and the entire Israelite army stayed there until they had exterminated every male in Edom. Hadad, who was only a small boy at the time, escaped with some of his father's Edomite servants and headed for Egypt. They went from Midian to Paran; they took some men from Paran and went to Egypt. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, supplied him with a house and food and even assigned him some land. Pharaoh liked Hadad so well he gave him his sister-in-law (Queen Tahpenes' sister) as a wife. Tahpenes' sister gave birth to his son, named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him in Pharaoh's palace; Genubath grew up in Pharaoh's palace among Pharaoh's sons. While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, "Give me permission to leave so I can return to my homeland." Pharaoh said to him, "What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?" Hadad replied, "Nothing, but please give me permission to leave." God also brought against Solomon another enemy, Rezon son of Eliada who had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. He gathered some men and organized a raiding band. When David tried to kill them, they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city. He was Israel's enemy throughout Solomon's reign and, like Hadad, caused trouble. He loathed Israel and ruled over Syria. Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon's servants, rebelled against the king. He was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: Solomon built a terrace and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David. Jeroboam was a talented man; when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe of Joseph. At that time, when Jeroboam had left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road; the two of them were alone in the open country. Ahijah was wearing a brand new robe, and he grabbed the robe and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he told Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon's hand and I will give ten tribes to you. He will retain one tribe, for my servant David's sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. I am taking the kingdom from him because they have abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon's father David did. I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules. I will take the kingdom from the hand of his son and give ten tribes to you. I will leave his son one tribe so my servant David's dynasty may continue to serve me in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. I will select you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel. You must obey all I command you to do, follow my instructions, do what I approve, and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; I will give you Israel. I will humiliate David's descendants because of this, but not forever." Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died. The rest of the events of Solomon's reign, including all his accomplishments and his wise decisions, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of Solomon. Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years. Then Solomon passed away and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king.
As he was still speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, "Come in, for an important man like you must be bringing good news." Jonathan replied to Adonijah: "No! Our master King David has made Solomon king. The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites and they put him on the king's mule. Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gihon. They went up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That is the sound you hear. Furthermore, Solomon has assumed the royal throne. The king's servants have even come to congratulate our master King David, saying, 'May your God make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!' Then the king leaned on the bed and said this: 'The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.'" All of Adonijah's guests panicked; they jumped up and rushed off their separate ways. Adonijah feared Solomon, so he got up and went and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. Solomon was told, "Look, Adonijah fears you; see, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, 'May King Solomon solemnly promise me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.'" Solomon said, "If he is a loyal subject, not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, he will die." King Solomon sent men to bring him down from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon told him, "Go home." When David was close to death, he told Solomon his son: "I am about to die. Be strong and become a man! Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you by following his instructions and obeying his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish, and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me, 'If your descendants watch their step and live faithfully in my presence with all their heart and being, then,' he promised, 'you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.' "You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me -- how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle; when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet. Do to him what you think is appropriate, but don't let him live long and die a peaceful death. "Treat fairly the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs, because they helped me when I had to flee from your brother Absalom. "Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim. He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised him by the Lord, 'I will not strike you down with the sword.' But now don't treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him; make sure he has a bloody death." Then David passed away and was buried in the city of David. David reigned over Israel forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years, and in Jerusalem thirty-three years. Solomon sat on his father David's throne, and his royal authority was firmly solidified. Haggith's son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked, "Do you come in peace?" He answered, "Yes." He added, "I have something to say to you." She replied, "Speak." He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine and all Israel considered me king. But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the Lord decided it should be his. Now I'd like to ask you for just one thing. Please don't refuse me." She said, "Go ahead and ask." He said, "Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won't refuse you." Bathsheba replied, "That's fine, I'll speak to the king on your behalf." So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah's behalf. The king got up to greet her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand. She said, "I would like to ask you for just one small favor. Please don't refuse me." He said, "Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you." She said, "Allow Abishag the Shunammite to be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife." King Solomon answered his mother, "Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him? Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!" King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, "May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life! Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David's throne, and established a dynasty for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!" King Solomon then sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah. The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times." Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down." When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply. The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he -- Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness. The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar's place. Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere! If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom. Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh's daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. Now the people were offering sacrifices at the high places, because in those days a temple had not yet been built to honor the Lord. Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the Lord by following the practices of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. Solomon would offer up a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there. One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said, "Tell me what I should give you." Solomon replied, "You demonstrated great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David's place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced. Your servant stands among your chosen people; they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning mind so he can make judicial decisions for your people and distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours." The Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request. God said to him, "Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, I grant your request, and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. Furthermore, I am giving you what you did not request -- riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation. If you follow my instructions by obeying my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, then I will grant you long life." Solomon then woke up and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord's covenant, offered up burnt sacrifices, presented peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants. Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of the women said, "My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house. Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us. This woman's child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms. I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby." The other woman said, "No! My son is alive; your son is dead!" But the first woman replied, "No, your son is dead; my son is alive." Each presented her case before the king. The king said, "One says, 'My son is alive; your son is dead,' while the other says, 'No, your son is dead; my son is alive.'" The king ordered, "Get me a sword!" So they placed a sword before the king. The king then said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!" The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said, "My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don't kill him!" But the other woman said, "Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!" The king responded, "Give the first woman the living child; don't kill him. She is the mother." When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected the king, for they realized that he possessed supernatural wisdom to make judicial decisions. King Solomon ruled over all Israel. These were his officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest. Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, wrote down what happened. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records. Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were priests. Azariah son of Nathan was supervisor of the district governors. Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king. Ahishar was supervisor of the palace. Adoniram son of Abda was supervisor of the work crews. Solomon had twelve district governors appointed throughout Israel who acquired supplies for the king and his palace. Each was responsible for one month in the year. These were their names: Ben-Hur was in charge of the hill country of Ephraim. Ben-Deker was in charge of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan. Ben-Hesed was in charge of Arubboth; he controlled Socoh and all the territory of Hepher. Ben-Abinadab was in charge of Naphath Dor. (He was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath.) Baana son of Ahilud was in charge of Taanach and Megiddo, as well as all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah and on past Jokmeam. Ben-Geber was in charge of Ramoth Gilead; he controlled the tent villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan, including sixty large walled cities with bronze bars locking their gates. Ahinadab son of Iddo was in charge of Mahanaim. Ahimaaz was in charge of Naphtali. (He married Solomon's daughter Basemath.) Baana son of Hushai was in charge of Asher and Aloth. Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was in charge of Issachar. Shimei son of Ela was in charge of Benjamin. Geber son of Uri was in charge of the land of Gilead (the territory which had once belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites and to King Og of Bashan). He was sole governor of the area. The people of Judah and Israel were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore; they had plenty to eat and drink and were happy. Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms paid tribute as Solomon's subjects throughout his lifetime. Each day Solomon's royal court consumed thirty cors of finely milled flour, sixty cors of cereal, ten calves fattened in the stall, twenty calves from the pasture, and a hundred sheep, not to mention rams, gazelles, deer, and well-fed birds. His royal court was so large because he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River from Tiphsah to Gaza; he was at peace with all his neighbors. All the people of Judah and Israel had security; everyone from Dan to Beer Sheba enjoyed the produce of their vines and fig trees throughout Solomon's lifetime. Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses. The district governors acquired supplies for King Solomon and all who ate in his royal palace. Each was responsible for one month in the year; they made sure nothing was lacking. Each one also brought to the assigned location his quota of barley and straw for the various horses. God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding was as infinite as the sand on the seashore. Solomon was wiser than all the men of the east and all the sages of Egypt. He was wiser than any man, including Ethan the Ezrahite or Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the neighboring nations. He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. He produced manuals on botany, describing every kind of plant, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on walls. He also produced manuals on biology, describing animals, birds, insects, and fish. People from all nations came to hear Solomon's display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom. King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father's place. (Hiram had always been an ally of David.) Solomon then sent this message to Hiram: "You know that my father David was unable to build a temple to honor the Lord his God, for he was busy fighting battles on all fronts while the Lord subdued his enemies. But now the Lord my God has made me secure on all fronts; there is no adversary or dangerous threat. So I have decided to build a temple to honor the Lord my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, 'Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.' So now order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants. I will pay your servants whatever you say is appropriate, for you know that we have no one among us who knows how to cut down trees like the Sidonians." When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was very happy. He said, "The Lord is worthy of praise today because he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation." Hiram then sent this message to Solomon: "I received the message you sent to me. I will give you all the cedars and evergreens you need. My servants will bring the timber down from Lebanon to the sea. I will send it by sea in raft-like bundles to the place you designate. There I will separate the logs and you can carry them away. In exchange you will supply the food I need for my royal court." So Hiram supplied the cedars and evergreens Solomon needed, and Solomon supplied Hiram annually with 20,000 cors of wheat as provision for his royal court, as well as 20,000 baths of pure olive oil. So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. And Hiram and Solomon were at peace and made a treaty. King Solomon conscripted work crews from throughout Israel, 30,000 men in all. He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. Adoniram was supervisor of the work crews. Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, besides 3,300 officials who supervised the workers. By royal order they supplied large valuable stones in order to build the temple's foundation with chiseled stone. Solomon's and Hiram's construction workers, along with men from Byblos, did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple. In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, during the month Ziv (the second month), he began building the Lord's temple. The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The porch in front of the main hall of the temple was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple. It was 15 feet wide, extending out from the front of the temple. He made framed windows for the temple. He built an extension all around the walls of the temple's main hall and holy place and constructed side rooms in it. The bottom floor of the extension was seven and a half feet wide, the middle floor nine feet wide, and the third floor ten and a half feet wide. He made ledges on the temple's outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls. As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built. The entrance to the bottom level of side rooms was on the south side of the temple; stairs went up to the middle floor and then on up to the third floor. He finished building the temple and covered it with rafters and boards made of cedar. He built an extension all around the temple; it was seven and a half feet high and it was attached to the temple by cedar beams. The Lord said to Solomon: "As for this temple you are building, if you follow my rules, observe my regulations, and obey all my commandments, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David. I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel." So Solomon finished building the temple. He constructed the walls inside the temple with cedar planks; he paneled the inside with wood from the floor of the temple to the rafters of the ceiling. He covered the temple floor with boards made from the wood of evergreens. He built a wall 30 feet in from the rear of the temple as a partition for an inner sanctuary that would be the most holy place. He paneled the wall with cedar planks from the floor to the rafters. The main hall in front of the inner sanctuary was 60 feet long. The inside of the temple was all cedar and was adorned with carvings of round ornaments and of flowers in bloom. Everything was cedar; no stones were visible. He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord could be placed there. The inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He plated it with gold, as well as the cedar altar. Solomon plated the inside of the temple with gold. He hung golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary and plated the inner sanctuary with gold. He plated the entire inside of the temple with gold, as well as the altar inside the inner sanctuary. In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubs of olive wood; each stood 15 feet high. Each of the first cherub's wings was seven and a half feet long; its entire wingspan was 15 feet. The second cherub also had a wingspan of 15 feet; it was identical to the first in measurements and shape. Each cherub stood 15 feet high. He put the cherubs in the inner sanctuary of the temple. Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub's wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub's wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub's other wing touched the second cherub's other wing in the middle of the room. He plated the cherubs with gold. On all the walls around the temple, inside and out, he carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom. He plated the floor of the temple with gold, inside and out. He made doors of olive wood at the entrance to the inner sanctuary; the pillar on each doorpost was five-sided. On the two doors made of olive wood he carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold. He plated the cherubs and the palm trees with hammered gold. In the same way he made doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall, only with four-sided pillars. He also made two doors out of wood from evergreens; each door had two folding leaves. He carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom and plated them with gold, leveled out over the carvings. He built the inner courtyard with three rows of chiseled stones and a row of cedar beams. In the month Ziv of the fourth year of Solomon's reign the foundation was laid for the Lord's temple. In the eleventh year, in the month Bul (the eighth month) the temple was completed in accordance with all its specifications and blueprints. It took seven years to build. Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace. He named it "The Palace of the Lebanon Forest"; it was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars. The roof above the beams supported by the pillars was also made of cedar; there were forty-five beams, fifteen per row. There were three rows of windows arranged in sets of three. All of the entrances were rectangular in shape and they were arranged in sets of three. He made a colonnade 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch. He also made a throne room, called "The Hall of Judgment," where he made judicial decisions. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters. The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married. All of these were built with the best stones, chiseled to the right size and cut with a saw on all sides, from the foundation to the edge of the roof and from the outside to the great courtyard. The foundation was made of large valuable stones, measuring either 15 feet or 12 feet. Above the foundation the best stones, chiseled to the right size, were used along with cedar. Around the great courtyard were three rows of chiseled stones and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord's temple and the hall of the palace. King Solomon sent for Hiram of Tyre. He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. He had the skill and knowledge to make all kinds of works of bronze. He reported to King Solomon and did all the work he was assigned. He fashioned two bronze pillars; each pillar was 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference. He made two bronze tops for the pillars; each was seven-and-a-half feet high. The latticework on the tops of the pillars was adorned with ornamental wreaths and chains; the top of each pillar had seven groupings of ornaments. When he made the pillars, there were two rows of pomegranate-shaped ornaments around the latticework covering the top of each pillar. The tops of the two pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies and were six feet high. On the top of each pillar, right above the bulge beside the latticework, there were two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments arranged in rows all the way around. He set up the pillars on the porch in front of the main hall. He erected one pillar on the right side and called it Jakin; he erected the other pillar on the left side and called it Boaz. The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the construction of the pillars was completed. He also made the large bronze basin called "The Sea." It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet. Under the rim all the way around it were round ornaments arranged in settings 15 feet long. The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with "The Sea." "The Sea" stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. "The Sea" was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward. It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold about 12,000 gallons. He also made ten bronze movable stands. Each stand was six feet long, six feet wide, and four-and-a-half feet high. The stands were constructed with frames between the joints. On these frames and joints were ornamental lions, bulls, and cherubs. Under the lions and bulls were decorative wreaths. Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and four supports. Under the basin the supports were fashioned on each side with wreaths. Inside the stand was a round opening that was a foot-and-a-half deep; it had a support that was two and one-quarter feet long. On the edge of the opening were carvings in square frames. The four wheels were under the frames and the crossbars of the axles were connected to the stand. Each wheel was two and one-quarter feet high. The wheels were constructed like chariot wheels; their crossbars, rims, spokes, and hubs were made of cast metal. Each stand had four supports, one per side projecting out from the stand. On top of each stand was a round opening three-quarters of a foot deep; there were also supports and frames on top of the stands. He engraved ornamental cherubs, lions, and palm trees on the plates of the supports and frames wherever there was room, with wreaths all around. He made the ten stands in this way. All of them were cast in one mold and were identical in measurements and shape. He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons. Each basin was six feet in diameter; there was one basin for each stand. He put five basins on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put "The Sea" on the south side, in the southeast corner. Hiram also made basins, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on the Lord's temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. He made the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), the ten movable stands with their ten basins, the big bronze basin called "The Sea" with its twelve bulls underneath, and the pots, shovels, and bowls. All these items King Solomon assigned Hiram to make for the Lord's temple were made from polished bronze. The king had them cast in earth foundries in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. Solomon left all these items unweighed; there were so many of them they did not weigh the bronze. Solomon also made all these items for the Lord's temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence, the pure gold lampstands at the entrance to the inner sanctuary (five on the right and five on the left), the gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, the pure gold bowls, trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the most holy place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. When King Solomon finished constructing the Lord's temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and other articles) in the treasuries of the Lord's temple. Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel's elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord's covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion). All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month Ethanim (the seventh month). When all Israel's elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark. The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the tent. Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered. The priests brought the ark of the Lord's covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. The cherubs' wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. It was there that the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Once the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the Lord's temple. The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the Lord's glory filled his temple. Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. O Lord, truly I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently." Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. He said, "The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David. He told David, 'Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.' Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel. The Lord told my father David, 'It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.' The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David's place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky. He prayed: "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity. You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. Now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, 'You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.' Now, O God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant, my father David, be realized. "God does not really live on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you today. Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant's prayer for this place. Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably. "When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants' claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve. "The time will come when your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help in this temple, then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors. "The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them, then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. "The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their pain and spread out their hands toward this temple, then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) Then they will obey you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors. "Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation. When they hear about your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. "When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to the Lord toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them. "The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, whether far away or close by. When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, 'We have sinned and gone astray; we have done evil.' When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help and vindicate them. Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them. After all, they are your people and your special possession whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. "May you be attentive to your servant's and your people Israel's requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you. After all, you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, just as you, O sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt." When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky. When he stood up, he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice: "The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled! May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us. May he make us submissive, so we can follow all his instructions and obey the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors. May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, so that he might vindicate his servant and his people Israel as the need arises. Then all the nations of the earth will recognize that the Lord is the only genuine God. May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God by following his rules and obeying his commandments, as you are presently doing." The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord's temple. That day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord's temple. He offered there burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold all these offerings. At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south. On the fifteenth day after the festival started, he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king and then went to their homes, happy and content because of all the good the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel. After Solomon finished building the Lord's temple, the royal palace, and all the other construction projects he had planned, the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, in the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him, "I have answered your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home; I will be constantly present there. You must serve me with integrity and sincerity, just as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations. Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently, just as I promised your father David, 'You will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.' "But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods, then I will remove Israel from the land I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed among all the nations. This temple will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, saying, 'Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?' Others will then answer, 'Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.'" After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord's temple and the royal palace, King Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre twenty cities in the region of Galilee, because Hiram had supplied Solomon with cedars, evergreens, and all the gold he wanted. When Hiram went out from Tyre to inspect the cities Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. Hiram asked, "Why did you give me these cities, my friend?" He called that area the region of Cabul, a name which it has retained to this day. Hiram had sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold. Here are the details concerning the work crews King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord's temple, his palace, the terrace, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.) Solomon built up Gezer, lower Beth Horon, Baalath, Tadmor in the wilderness, all the storage cities that belonged to him, and the cities where chariots and horses were kept. He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom. Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out completely). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day. Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. These men were also in charge of Solomon's work projects; there were a total of 550 men who supervised the workers. Solomon built the terrace as soon as Pharaoh's daughter moved up from the city of David to the palace Solomon built for her. Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense along with them before the Lord. He made the temple his official worship place. King Solomon also built ships in Ezion Geber, which is located near Elat in the land of Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. Hiram sent his fleet and some of his sailors, who were well acquainted with the sea, to serve with Solomon's men. They sailed to Ophir, took from there four hundred twenty talents of gold, and then brought them to King Solomon. When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp, bringing with her camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king. When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon's extensive wisdom, the palace he had built, the food in his banquet hall, his servants and attendants, their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord's temple, she was amazed. She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight was true! I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn't hear even half the story! Your wisdom and wealth surpass what was reported to me. Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy! May the Lord your God be praised because he favored you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord's eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions." She gave the king 120 talents of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched. (Hiram's fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of fine timber and precious gems. With the timber the king made supports for the Lord's temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day.) King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her. Then she left and returned to her homeland with her attendants. Solomon received 666 talents of gold per year, besides what he collected from the merchants, traders, Arabian kings, and governors of the land. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures of gold were used for each shield. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold were used for each of these shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. There were six steps leading up to the throne, and the back of it was rounded on top. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom. All of King Solomon's cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon's time. Along with Hiram's fleet, the king had a fleet of large merchant ships that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet came into port with cargoes of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth. Everyone in the world wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom. Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules. Solomon accumulated chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands. Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt and from Que; the king's traders purchased them from Que. They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria. King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh's daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, "You must not establish friendly relations with them! If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods." But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. He had 700 royal wives and 300 concubines; his wives had a powerful influence over him. When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. Solomon did evil in the Lord's sight; he did not remain loyal to the Lord, like his father David had. Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods. The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. But he did not obey the Lord's command. So the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. However, for your father David's sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son's hand instead. But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave your son one tribe for my servant David's sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem." The Lord brought against Solomon an enemy, Hadad the Edomite, a descendant of the Edomite king. During David's campaign against Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom. For six months Joab and the entire Israelite army stayed there until they had exterminated every male in Edom. Hadad, who was only a small boy at the time, escaped with some of his father's Edomite servants and headed for Egypt. They went from Midian to Paran; they took some men from Paran and went to Egypt. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, supplied him with a house and food and even assigned him some land. Pharaoh liked Hadad so well he gave him his sister-in-law (Queen Tahpenes' sister) as a wife. Tahpenes' sister gave birth to his son, named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him in Pharaoh's palace; Genubath grew up in Pharaoh's palace among Pharaoh's sons. While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, "Give me permission to leave so I can return to my homeland." Pharaoh said to him, "What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?" Hadad replied, "Nothing, but please give me permission to leave." God also brought against Solomon another enemy, Rezon son of Eliada who had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. He gathered some men and organized a raiding band. When David tried to kill them, they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city. He was Israel's enemy throughout Solomon's reign and, like Hadad, caused trouble. He loathed Israel and ruled over Syria. Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon's servants, rebelled against the king. He was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: Solomon built a terrace and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David. Jeroboam was a talented man; when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe of Joseph. At that time, when Jeroboam had left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road; the two of them were alone in the open country. Ahijah was wearing a brand new robe, and he grabbed the robe and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he told Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon's hand and I will give ten tribes to you. He will retain one tribe, for my servant David's sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. I am taking the kingdom from him because they have abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon's father David did. I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules. I will take the kingdom from the hand of his son and give ten tribes to you. I will leave his son one tribe so my servant David's dynasty may continue to serve me in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. I will select you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel. You must obey all I command you to do, follow my instructions, do what I approve, and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; I will give you Israel. I will humiliate David's descendants because of this, but not forever." Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died. The rest of the events of Solomon's reign, including all his accomplishments and his wise decisions, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of Solomon. Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years. Then Solomon passed away and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king.
Maachah » Also called maoch » Father of achish
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath."
Verse Concepts
So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men.
Verse Concepts
Punishments » Were inflicted » By order of kings
David said to the young man who told this to him, "Where are you from?" He replied, "I am an Amalekite, the son of a resident foreigner." David replied to him, "How is it that you were not afraid to reach out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?" Then David called one of the soldiers and said, "Come here and strike him down!" So he struck him down, and he died. read more.
David said to him, "Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth has testified against you, saying 'I have put the Lord's anointed to death.'"
David said to him, "Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth has testified against you, saying 'I have put the Lord's anointed to death.'"
King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, "May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life! Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David's throne, and established a dynasty for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!" King Solomon then sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah. read more.
The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times." Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down." When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply. The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he -- Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness. The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar's place. Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere! If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.
The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times." Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down." When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply. The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he -- Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness. The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar's place. Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere! If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.
Servant » Bond » Sought by shimei
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned,
Servant » Wicked and unfaithful » Of shimei
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath."
Verse Concepts
Servants » Bad--exemplified » Servants of shimei
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath."
Verse Concepts
Shimei » A benjamite » Curses david; david's magnanimity toward
Shimei son of Gera the Benjaminite from Bahurim came down quickly with the men of Judah to meet King David.
Verse Concepts
Then King David reached Bahurim. There a man from Saul's extended family named Shimei son of Gera came out, yelling curses as he approached. He threw stones at David and all of King David's servants, as well as all the people and the soldiers who were on his right and on his left. As he yelled curses, Shimei said, "Leave! Leave! You man of bloodshed, you wicked man! read more.
The Lord has punished you for all the spilled blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you rule. Now the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. Disaster has overtaken you, for you are a man of bloodshed!" Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!" But the king said, "What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, 'Curse David!', who can say to him, 'Why have you done this?'" Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "My own son, my very own flesh and blood, is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the Lord has spoken to him. Perhaps the Lord will notice my affliction and this day grant me good in place of his curse." So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them.
The Lord has punished you for all the spilled blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you rule. Now the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. Disaster has overtaken you, for you are a man of bloodshed!" Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!" But the king said, "What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, 'Curse David!', who can say to him, 'Why have you done this?'" Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "My own son, my very own flesh and blood, is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the Lord has spoken to him. Perhaps the Lord will notice my affliction and this day grant me good in place of his curse." So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them.
Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere! If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. read more.
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.
Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?" Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord." The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.