Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Foundation » Laid for » Temples
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their array, with trumpets, and the Levites, the children of Asaph, with cymbals; to praise the LORD, after the manner of David, king of Israel.
In the fourth year of his reign was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, even in the month Ziv,
Kings » Who reigned over all israel » Solomon
And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew a trumpet, and they all said, "God save king Solomon!" And all the people came up after him piping with pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the earth rang with the sound of them. And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him, heard it even as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, "How happeneth it there is such a noise in the city?" read more.
And as he yet spake, see, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, "Come, for thou art a lusty blood and bringest good tidings." And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, "Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. And the king sent with him, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they have set him upon the king's mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the Prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. And as they came up again they rejoiced that the city did sound again. And that is the noise that ye have heard. And thereto Solomon sitteth on the seat of the kingdom. And moreover, the king's servants went in to bless our lord king David saying, 'Thy God make the name of Solomon more favoured than thine, and his seat more glorious than thine.' And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And last of all thus said the king, 'Blessed be the LORD God of Israel which hath made one to sit on my seat this day, even mine eyes seeing it.'" And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid and rose up and went every man his way. And Adonijah, fearing Solomon, arose and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told Solomon, how that Adonijah for fear of king Solomon hath caught handfast by the horns of the altar, saying, "Let king Solomon swear unto me this day, that he will not slay his servant with the sword." And Solomon said, "If he will be a child of virtue, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth. But and if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die for it." And thereupon king Solomon sent and fetched him down from the altar. And he came and did obeisance unto king Solomon. And Solomon said to him, "Get thee to thine house." When the days of David were drawn nigh, and he should die; he charged Solomon his son, saying, "I must walk by the way of the world. Neverthelater, be thou strong and quite thyself manfully. And see that thou keep the appointment of the LORD thy God, that thou walk in his ways and keep his commandments, ordinances, laws and testimonies, even as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayest understand all that thou oughtest to do, and all that thou shouldest meddle with. That the LORD may make good his promise which he hath promised me, saying, 'If thy children shall take heed to their ways, that they walk before me in truth, with all their hearts and with all their souls; then thou shalt never be without one sitting on the seat of Israel.' Moreover thou knowest how Joab the son of Zeruiah hath served me, and what he hath done to the two captains of the hosts of Israel - unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether - how he slew them and shed the blood of war in time of peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins and in his shoes that were on his feet. Deal with him therefore according to thy wisdom and see that thou bring not his hoar head down to the grave in peace. And show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among them that eat at thine own table, because they so clave to me when I fled from Absalom thy brother. And see, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin of Bahurim, which cursed me with a bitter curse what time I went to Mahanaim. But he came against me to Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, "I will not slay thee with the sword." But pardon thou him not. Thou art a man of wisdom and shalt know what to do to him, see therefore that thou bring his hoar head to the grave with blood." And so David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And the days which David reigned upon Israel were forty years: seven years in Hebron, and thirty and three years in Jerusalem. And Solomon sat upon the seat of David his father and his kingdom was established mightily. After that, Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, "Betokeneth thy coming peace?" And he said, "It betokeneth peace." Then said he, "I have a matter to show thee." And she said, "Say on." And he said, "Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel put their eyes on me, that I should reign. Howbeit, the kingdom was turned away and given to my brother, for it was appointed him of the LORD: and now I ask a petition of thee, whereof deny me not." And she said unto him, "Tell what it is." Then he said, "Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king - for he will not say thee nay - that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife." And Bathsheba said, "Well, I will speak for thee unto the king." And thereupon Bathsheba went unto king Solomon to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up against her and bowed himself unto her, and sat him down on his seat. And there was a seat set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right side. Then she said, "I must desire a little petition of thee: say me not nay." And the king said unto her, "Ask on my mother: for I will not say thee nay." And she said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife." And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, "Why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? But rather ask for him the kingdom, seeing he is mine elder brother! Even for him ask it; and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah." Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, "God do so to me and so thereto if Adonijah have not spoken this word against himself. Now therefore as surely as the LORD liveth which hath established me and set me on the seat of David my father, and which hath made me a house as he promised me, Adonijah shall die this day." And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and smote him that he died. And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, "Get thee to Anathoth unto thine own fields, for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time kill thee, because thou hast borne the Ark of the Lord Jehovah before David my father, and because thou sufferest with my father in all his afflictions." And so Solomon put away Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD: to fulfill the words of the LORD which he spake over the house of Eli in Shiloh. Then tidings came to Joab - for Joab had turned after Adonijah, but not after Absalom - whereupon he fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and caught handfast on the horns of the altar. And it was told king Solomon how that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and stood by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada saying, "Go and smite him." And when Benaiah was come to the tabernacle of the LORD he said unto him, "Thus sayeth the king: 'Come out.'" And he said, "Nay: But I will die even here." And Benaiah brought the king word, saying, "Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me." And the king said, "Do even as he hath said: smite him and bury him, and take away the blood which Joab shed, causeless, from me and from the house of my father. And the LORD bring his blood upon his own head, for he smote two men righteouser and better than he, and slew them with the sword; my father unwitting: even Abner the son of Ner captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether captain of the host of Judah. And their blood return upon the head of Joab and on the head of his seed forever. And prosperity be unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his seat, of the LORD forever." And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and smote him and slew him and buried him in his own house in the wilderness. And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host, and put Zadok the priest in the room of Abiathar. Then the king sent and called Shimei, and said to him, "Build thee a house in Jerusalem and dwell there and see that thou go not once thence any whither. For be thou sure of it: the day thou goest out and passest over the river of Kidron, thou shalt die for it, and thy blood shall be on thine own head." And Shimei said unto the king, "It is well said: as my lord the king hath said, so will his servant do." And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many a day. And it chanced, at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And one told Shimei, saying, "See, thy servants be in Gath." And Shimei stood up and saddled his ass and gat him to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants, and came and brought them again from Gath. But it was told Solomon how that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and was come again. And the king sent and called Shimei and said unto him, "Did I not adjure thee by the LORD, and testified unto thee saying, 'Be sure whensoever thou goest out and walkest abroad any whither, thou shalt die for it?' And thou answeredst me, 'It is good tidings that I have heard.' Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I commanded thee?" And then the king said to Shimei, "Thou rememberest all the wickedness which thine heart knoweth that thou didst to David my father. The LORD therefore render again thy wickedness upon thine own head: and king Solomon be blessed, and the fear of the LORD be established before the LORD forever." And the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada: which went out and smote him that he died. And so was the kingdom settled in the hand of Solomon. Then Solomon drew affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had made an end of building his own house and the house of the LORD and the walls of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in altars made on hills, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD until those days. And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the ordinances of David his father, save only that he sacrificed and offered cense upon altars in hills. And the king went to Gibeon, to offer there: for that was a great offering place. And there Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings upon that altar. And in Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, "Ask what I shall give thee." And Solomon said, "Thou hast showed unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy; according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and plainness of heart with thee. And thou hast kept for him this great mercy, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his seat: as it is come to pass this day. And now LORD, my God, it is thou that hast made thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am a young lad and know not how to order myself. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a people that are so many that they can not be told nor numbered for multitude. Give therefore unto thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, and to discern between good, and bad. For who is able to judge this, thy so weighty a people?" And it pleased the LORD well, that Solomon had desired this thing. Wherefore God said unto him, "Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked long life, neither hast asked riches, nor the lives of thine enemies, but hast asked the discretion to understand equity: see, I have done according to thy petition. And behold, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And thereto I have given thee that thou askedst not, both riches and honour: so that there shall be no king like thee all thy days. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep mine ordinances and commandments as David thy father did walk, I will lengthen thy days also." When Solomon awoke, this was his dream. And he came to Jerusalem and presented himself before the Ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Then came there two women that were harlots unto the king and stood before him. And the one of them said, "Oh my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. And I was delivered of a child with her in the said house. And the third day after that I was delivered, she was delivered also: we two being together and no stranger with us in the house save we two alone. And this woman's child died in a night, for she had overlaid it. And then she arose at midnight and took my son from my side, while thine handmaid slept and laid it in her bosom, and put her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose up in the morning to give my child suck: see, it was dead. But when I had looked more diligently upon it in the morning: Behold, it was not my son which I did bear." And the other woman said, "It is not so: But the living is my son, and the dead thine." And she said again, "Thou sayest untrue, for the dead is thy son, and the living mine." And thus they pleaded before the king. Then said the king, "The one sayeth, 'This that is alive is my son, and the dead is thine.' And the other sayeth, 'Nay: But thy son is the dead and the live child is mine.'" Then said the king, "Bring me a sword." And they brought a sword before the king. And then the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give the one half to the one, and the other to the other." Then spake the woman whose son lived, unto the king - for her motherly heart was kindled with pity over her son - and said, "I beseech thee, my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it." And the other said, "It shall be neither mine nor thine, but divide it." Then the king answered and said, "Give her the living child and slay it not, for she is the mother thereof." And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged and feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice. And so king Solomon was king over all Israel. And these were his lords: Azariah the son of Zadok the priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; And Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the general receivers; And Zabud the son of Nathan was a waiter and the king's companion; And Ahishar, the steward of household; And Adoniram the son of Abda over the tribute. And Solomon had twelve general receivers over all Israel which sustained the king and his household: each man his month in a year. Whose names are these: The son of Hur in mount Ephraim; the son of Dekar in Makaz, in Salem, in Bethshemesh, in Elon and in Bethhanan; the son of Hesed in Arubboth, and to him pertained Socoh and all the land of Hepher; the son of Abinadab, which had all the regions of Dor, and Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife; Baanah the son of Ahilud had Taanach, Megiddo, and all Bet-Shean which is by Zarethan beneath Jezreel, and from Bet-Shean to Abelmeholah and unto beyond Jokmeam; The son of Geber had Ramoth Gilead, and his were the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh which lie in Gilead, and his were the coasts of Argob in Bashan, three score great cities with wall and bars of brass; Abinadab the son of Ado had Mahanaim; Ahimaaz had Naphtali, and he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife; Baanah the son of Hushai had Asher and Aloth; Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah had Issachar; Shimei the son of Ela had Benjamin; Geber the son of Uri had the country of Gilead and the land of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan, and was alone receiver in the land. And Judah and Israel were many, even as the sand of the sea in number, eating, drinking, and making merry. And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river throughout all the land of the Philistines unto the borders of Egypt, and they brought presents and served Solomon all days of his life. And Solomon's food was in one day thirty quarters of manchet flour and three score quarters of meal; ten stalled oxen, and twenty out of the pastures and a hundred sheep and goats, besides harts, bucks and buballs and fat poultry. For he ruled in all the regions on the other side Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza and also over all the kings on the other side the said Euphrates. And he had peace with all his servants on every side. And Judah and Israel dwelt without fear, every man under his vine and under his fig tree from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. And the foresaid general receivers made purveyance for king Solomon and for all that came to king Solomon's table, every man his month, so that there lacked nothing. And as for barley and straw for the horses and beasts they brought unto the places where the officers were, every man in his office. And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much and a large heart, even as the sand along by the sea bank: so that Solomon's wisdom exceeded the wisdom of all them of the East country and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And he excelled all men in wisdom, both Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol and Darda the sons of Mahol. And his name spread abroad among all nations on every side. And Solomon wrote three thousand proverbs. And his songs were a thousand and five. And he disputed of trees, even from the Cedar tree that groweth in Lebanon unto the Hyssop that springeth out of the wall. And he disputed of beasts, fowls, worms, and fishes. And there came of all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all kings of the earth which had heard of his wisdom. And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father. And thereto Hiram was ever a lover of David's. And Solomon sent again to Hiram, saying, "Thou knowest of David my father, how he could not build a house unto the name of the LORD his God for war which he had on every side, until the LORD had put them under his foot. But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor any evil plague. And therefore I am disposed to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God, as he promised David my father, saying, 'Thy son which I will put upon thy seat for thee, he shall build a house unto my name.' Now then, command that they hew me Cedar trees in Lebanon. And let my servants be with thine, and I will give the hire of thy servants in all such things as thou shalt appoint, for thou knowest that there are not among us that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians." When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, "Blessed be the LORD this day which hath set David a wise son over this mighty people." And Hiram sent again to Solomon, saying, "I have accepted the request which thou sentest to me for, and will satisfy all thy lust, concerning timber of Cedar trees and fir. My servants shall bring them from Lebanon to the sea. And I will convey them by ship unto the place that thou shalt send me word, and will cause them to be discharged there, that thou mayest receive them. And thou shalt do me this pleasure again, to minister food for mine house." And so Hiram gave Solomon Cedar trees and fir trees, as much as he desired. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand quarters of wheat to feed his household withal, and twenty butts of pure oil. And so much gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon and they were confedered together. And king Solomon raised a tribute throughout all Israel. And the tribute was thirty thousand men, which he sent to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by course, so that they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was over the tribute. And Solomon had three score and ten thousand that bare burdens, and three score and ten thousand that hewed in the mountains besides the lords he had to oversee the work, in number three thousand and three hundred, which ruled the people that wrought in the work. And at the commandment of the king, they brought great stones, and that free stones, and hewed thereto, to lay in the foundation of the house. And Solomon's masons and the masons of Hiram did hew them, with them of the borders. And so they prepared both in timber and stone to build the house. And it came to pass, the four hundred and fourscore year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and the fourth year of the reign of Solomon upon Israel, and the second month called Ziv, that he began to build the temple unto the LORD. And the house which Solomon built for the LORD was three score cubits long and twenty broad and thirty cubits high. And the porch that was before the body of the temple was twenty cubits long after the measure of the breadth of the house, and ten broad, even at the very end of the house. And he made unto the house, windows to open and shut. And under the walls of the house he made galleries round about, both round about the temple and also the quyre. And so made sides round about. And the nethermost gallery was five cubits broad and the middle gallery six. And the third, seven cubits broad. For he made the walls without, whereon the beams lay, ever thinner and thinner, so that they were not fastened in the walls of the house. And the house was built of stone made perfect already before it was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer or axe either any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. And the door of the middle gallery was in the end of the house on the right side. And men went up with winding stairs into the middle gallery, and out of the middle into the third. And so he built the house and finished it, and roofed it with beams of Cedar timber made hollow and joined together. And then he built chambers over all the temple of five cubits height, and coupled the house together with beams of Cedar. And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, "Concerning the house which thou art in building: if thou wilt walk in mine ordinances and execute my laws and keep all my commandments, to walk in them; then will I make good unto thee my promises which I promised David thy father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel." And so therefore Solomon built the house and finished it, and sealed the walls of the house within, with ribs of Cedar tree: even from the pavement unto the roof did he seal it within, and boarded the floor of the house with planks of fir. And he sealed twenty cubits in the end of the temple, both floor and walls, with Cedar, and dressed it within to be the quyre and place most holy. And the first house, that is to say, the body of the temple, was forty cubits long. And the Cedar of the house within was carved with knops and graven with flowers, and all was Cedar timber, so that no stone was seen. And the quyre that was within the temple, he prepared to set there the Ark of the covenant of the LORD. And the quyre was twenty cubits long, and twenty in breadth and twenty in height. And he sealed it with pure gold, and boarded the altar with Cedar. And Solomon sealed the house within also with pure gold. And he made golden bars run along the quyre, which he had covered with gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold until he had ended it. And the altar that was in the quyre he overlaid with gold also. And within the quyre he made two Cherubims of olive tree, ten cubits high apiece, and every wing five cubits long: so that from the uttermost part of one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. And the other Cherub was ten cubits high also: so that both the Cherubs were of one measure and one size. The height of the one Cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other. And he put the Cherubs in the middle of the inner house. And the Cherubs stretched their wings, so that the one wing of the one touched the one wall, and the one wing of the other touched the other wall. And the other two wings of them touched one another in the midst of the house. And he overlaid the Cherubs with gold. And all the walls of the house round about, he garnished with work of Cherubs and palm trees and graven flowers, both within in the quyre and without in the temple. And the floor of the house he covered with gold both within in the quyre and also without in the temple. And in the entering of the quyre he made two doors of olive tree, with the upper and two side posts five square. And the two doors of olive tree he graved with graving of Cherubs and Palm trees and graved flowers, and covered them with gold, and laid gold over the Cherubs and also the Palm trees. And in like manner, unto the door of the temple, he made posts of olive tree four square, and two doors of fir tree, and either door with two folding leaves and graved thereon Cherubs, Palm trees and flowers, and covered them with gold made plain by a ruler. And then he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone and one row of Cedar wood. In the fourth year of his reign was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, even in the month Ziv, and in the eleventh year in the month Bul which is the eighth month, it was full finished in all that pertained thereto, and fashioned as it should be in all points. And so was he seven years in building of it. And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years space and full finished it. And he built the house of the wood of Lebanon, a hundred cubits long and fifty broad, and thirty high, four square with rows of Cedar pillars and Cedar beams along upon the pillars. And the roof was Cedar above on high upon the beams that lay a high on the pillars, which pillars were forty and five in number, fifteen on a row, and the spaces between the pillars were one against another three fold. And all the doors with the side posts were four square one against another three fold. And he made a porch of pillars fifty cubits long and thirty cubits broad: and yet a porch before that with pillars, and a thick pillar before that. Then he made a porch to sit and judge in, sealed with Cedar throughout all the pavements. And his own house where he kept residence, in another court without that porch, was of the same work. And then Solomon made a house for Pharaoh's daughter which he had taken to wife, like unto that porch. And all these things were of rich stones hewed after a measure and sawed with saws within and without, even from the foundation unto that whereon the beams were laid, and on the outside thereto, toward the great court. And the foundation was of rich stones and the mighty great stones of ten cubits and of eight. And above were rich stones hewed according to the same size, and also with Cedar. And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stone and one row of Cedar planks. And likewise was it in the inner court of the house of the LORD and of the porch of the temple. And king Solomon sent and fetched one Hiram out of Tyre, a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, his father being of Tyre. Which Hiram was a craftsman in brass, and full of wisdom, understanding and cunning to work all manner of work in brass. And he came to king Solomon and wrought all his work. He cast two pillars of brass of eighteen cubits apiece high, and a string of twelve cubits might compass either of them about. And he made two head pieces of molten brass to set on the tops of the pillars, of five cubits long apiece, with garlands of braided work and hoops of chain work for the head pieces that were on the pillars, seven for the one and seven for the other. And he made the pillars, and for either of the head pieces a garland with two rows of pomegranates to cover them withal. And the head pieces that were on the tops of the pillars were wrought with lilies in the porch the space of four cubits of them. And the pomegranates above and beneath on the wreathen chains that compassed the middle of the head pieces were in number two hundred on either head piece. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple, and when he had set up the right pillar, he called the name thereon Jachin, and when he had set up the left pillar, he called the name thereof Boaz. And the tops of the pillars were thus wrought with lilies, and so was their workmanship finished. Then he cast a sea of brass, ten cubits wide from brim to brim and round in compass, and five cubits high. And a string of thirty cubits might compass it about, and under the brim of it as it were apples compassed and embraced the sea of ten cubits wide in two rows cast with it when it was cast. And it stood on twelve oxen: of which three looked North, three West, three South, and three East, and the sea on high upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And it was a hand breadth thick, and the brim wrought like the brim of a cup with flowers of lilies. And it contained two thousand baths. And he made ten bottoms of brass, four cubits long and four cubits broad apiece, and three high. And the works of the bottoms was on this manner that the sides were as it were flat boards between the ledges. And on the flat boards between the ledges were lions, oxen and Cherubs. And upon the ledges that were above and beneath the lions and oxen, was joined pendant work. And every bottom had four brazen wheels, whose axletrees were also of brass. And in the four corners were undersetters under the laver cast, each over against his fellow. And the stalk of the laver was in the middle of the bottom one cubit high, and a cubit and a half round, and it had knops thereon in the bare places which were foursquare not round. And under the sides were four wheels and their axletrees joined fast to the bottom. And the height of every wheel was a cubit and a half. And the workmanship of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel. And the axletrees, the navels, spokes and shafts were all molten. And the four undersetters in the four corners were of the very bottoms. And under the stalk of the laver in the midst of the bottom was there a round foot of half a cubit high. And thereon, plain places and ledges of the self. And he graved in the plain and also on the ledges, Cherubs, lions and palm trees, everywhere round about. And on this manner he made the ten bottoms cast work: all of one measure and one size. Then he made ten lavers of brass containing forty baths apiece, and they were of four cubits apiece, for every one of the bottoms a laver. And he put five of those bottoms on the right corner of the temple, and other five on the left: And put the sea on the right corner of the temple Eastward and toward the South. And Hiram made pots, shovels and basins, and so furnished all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD: that is to say, two pillars and two scalps of the heads that were on the tops of the two pillars, and four hundred pomegranates upon two wreaths, two rows on either wreath, to cover the two scalps of the heads that were on the tops of the two pillars. And the ten bottoms of brass with ten lavers upon them; and a sea with twelve oxen under it; and pots, shovels and basins. And all these vessels which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD were of bright brass. And in the plain of Jordan did the king cast them: even in the clay of the earth between Succoth and Zarethan. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, for the exceeding abundance of brass that was in them. And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the Altar of gold, and the table of gold whereon the shewbread was put. And five candlesticks, for the right side, and as many for the left, before the quyre, of pure gold: with flowers, lamps, and snuffers of gold; and bowls, Psalteries, basins, spoons and fire pans of pure gold; and hinges of gold both for the doors of the quyre, the place most holy, and for the doors of the temple also. And so was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And then Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated in silver, gold and other vessels, and put them to the treasure of the house of the LORD. Then Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and ancient lords of the children of Israel, unto him to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled unto king Solomon to the feast that falleth in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And when all the elders of Israel were come, the priests took up the Ark of the LORD, and brought it and also the tabernacle of witness and all the holy vessels that were therein. And the priests and the Levites brought them up. And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled, and were with him before the Ark, did offer sheep and oxen that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And so the priests brought the Ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place: even into the quyre of the temple and place most holy, under the wings of the Cherubs. For the Cherubs stretched out their wings over the Ark, and covered both it and also the staves thereof on high upon it. Howbeit the staves were so long that the ends of them appeared out of the holy place before the quyre, but were not seen without. And there they be unto this day. And there was nothing in the Ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel after they were come out of Egypt. And when the priests were come out of the Holy place, then a cloud filled the house of the LORD, that the priests could not endure to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD. Then spake Solomon, "The LORD said that he would dwell in darkness. I have built thee a house to dwell in, and a habitation for thee to abide in forever." And the king turned his face and blessed all the congregation of Israel, all the congregation standing. And he said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath fulfilled with his hand, that he spake with his mouth unto David my father, saying, 'From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city among any of the tribes of Israel, to build a house, that my name might be there: But I have chosen David to be ruler over my people Israel.' And it was in the heart of David my father, to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. But the LORD God said unto David my father, 'In that it was in thine heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well, that thou wast so minded. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come out of thy loins, he shall build a house for my name.' And the LORD hath made good his word that he spake. For I stood up in the room of David my father, and sat on the seat of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And I have prepared therein a place for the Ark wherein the covenant of the LORD is, which he made with our fathers, after he had brought them out of the land of Egypt." And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the sight of all the congregation of Israel and stretched out his hands to heaven, and said, "LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above or in the earth beneath, that keepest appointment and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their hearts: which also hast kept with thy servants David my father, that thou promisedest him. Thou spakest with thy mouth and hast fulfilled with thine hand, as it is come to pass this day. And now LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that thou promisedest him, saying, 'Thou shalt not be without one or other before me, sitting on the seat of Israel: Howbeit, if thy children shall take heed to their ways that they walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.' Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be stable which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. But indeed can God dwell on the earth? Behold: neither heaven, nor heaven above all heavens are able to contain thee - how much less then this house that I have built? But look to the prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, to give an ear unto the voice and prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day, that thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day; and upon the place, of which thou hast said, my name shall be there: that thou hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray in this place. And hearken unto the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel which they shall pray in this place. And hear thou, up unto heaven thy dwelling place, and when thou hearest have mercy. And if any man trespass against his neighbour, and his neighbour take an adjuration to adjure him withal, and the adjuration come before thine altar at this house, then hearken thou up to heaven, and work and judge thy servants, that thou condemn the wicked to bring his way upon his head, and justify the righteous to give him according to his righteousness. When thy people Israel be put to the worse before their enemies, because they have sinned against thee, and afterward turn again to thee and praise thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house: Then hear thou up to heaven and be merciful unto the sin of thy people Israel, and bring thee again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. If heaven be shut up, that there be no rain, because they have sinned against thee: yet if they pray in this place and praise thy name and turn from their sins, through thy scourging of them: then hear thou up to heaven, and be merciful unto the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel, that thou show them a good way to walk in, and give rain upon thy land that thou hast given unto thy people to inherit. If there chance dearth in the land, pestilence, blasting or withering of corn, or that the fruits be devoured of grasshoppers or caterpillars, or if their enemies besiege them in the land and in their own cities, or whatsoever plague or sickness chance: then hear thou up to heaven thy dwelling place, all the prayers and supplications that shall be made of all men throughout all thy people Israel, which shall knowledge every man the plague of his own heart, and stretch forth his hands unto this house. And be merciful, and work, and give every man according to his ways - even as thou only knowest every man's heart, for thou knowest the hearts of all the children of Adam - that they may fear thee as long as they live upon the earth which thou gavest unto their fathers. And likewise, if a stranger that is not of thy people Israel come out of a far country for thy name's sake - for they shall hear of thy great name and of thy mighty hand and stretched-out arm - and therefore if he come and pray at this place, hear thou up to heaven thy dwelling place and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all nations of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee as do thy people Israel, and that it may be known that this house which I have built is called after thy name. And when they go out to battle against their enemies whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen and toward the house that I have built for thy name: hear thou their prayers and supplications, up to heaven, and judge their cause. And finally, when they shall have sinned against thee - for there is no man that sinneth not - and thou art angry with them and hast delivered them to their enemies, that they be carried away prisoners unto the land of their enemies, whether far or near; yet if they turn again unto their hearts in the land where they be in captivity, and return and pray unto thee in the land of them that hold them captive, saying, 'We have sinned and have done wickedly and have trespassed,' and so turn again unto thee with all their hearts and all their souls in the land of their enemies which hold them captive, and pray unto thee, toward the land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou their prayer and supplication up to heaven thy dwelling place, and judge their causes, and be merciful unto thy people that have sinned against thee, and unto all their trespass that they have trespassed against thee, and get them favour in the sight of them that hold them captive that they may have compassion on them. For they be thy people and thine inheritance which thou broughtest out of Egypt, from the furnace of iron. And let thine eyes be open unto the prayer of thy servant and unto the prayer of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them, in all that they call unto thee for. For thou didst separate them to be thine inheritance, above all the nations of the earth, as thou saidest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah." And when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD and from kneeling on his knees and stretching of his hands up to heaven, and stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, "Blessed be the LORD that hath given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he promised: so that there is not one word escaped of all the good promises which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. And the LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and forsake us not, neither leave us, but that he bow our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, ordinances and customs which he commanded our fathers. And these my words which I have prayed before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he defend the cause of his servant and of his people Israel evermore, that all nations of the earth may know that the LORD, he is God and there is none other. And I pray God that your hearts may be sound with the LORD our God, to walk in his ordinances and to keep his laws as we do this day." And the king, and all Israel with him, offered offerings before the LORD. And the peace offerings that Solomon offered unto the LORD, were twenty two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep: And so the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. And the same day the king hallowed the middle of the court that is before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brazen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of the peace offerings. And Solomon held that same time a high feast and all Israel with him, a mighty congregation, even from the coasts of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and yet seven days, that is, fourteen days. And the eighth day he sent the people away. And they blessed the king and went unto their tents joyous and glad in heart for all the goodness that the LORD had showed unto David his servant and to Israel his people. And when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD and of the king's palace, and of all that his desire and lust was to make: the LORD appeared unto him again, as he appeared to him at Gibeon. And the LORD said unto him, "I have heard thy prayer and intercession that thou madest before me, and have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there forever and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in pureness of heart and plainness, to do all that I have commanded thee, and shalt keep mine ordinances and customs: then I will establish the seat of thy kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, 'Thou shalt not be without one or other upon the seat of Israel.' But and if ye and your children shall turn away from after me, and shall not keep mine ordinances which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods and bow yourselves unto them: then I will weed Israel out of the land which I have given them. And this house which I have hallowed for my name, I will put out of my sight. And Israel shall be a proverb and a fable unto all nations. And this house which is so high, all that pass by it shall be astonished and shall hiss and say, 'Why hath the LORD dealt on this manner with this land and with this house?' And it shall be answered then, 'Because they forsook the LORD their God which brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods and have stooped unto him and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.'" Then at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, that is to wete, the house of the LORD and the king's palace - because Hiram the king of Tyre had supported him with Cedar, fir and gold, as much as he desired - therefore Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And when Hiram was come from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, they pleased him not. Wherefore he said, "What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother?" And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. This Hiram had sent the king six score hundredweight of gold. And this is the sum of the tribute, which king Solomon raised to build the house of the LORD and his own house, and Mello and the walls of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, went up and took Gezer and burnt it with fire, and slew the Cananites that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a present unto his daughter that was Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer and Bethhoron the nether; and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness that is in the land; and all the store cities that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen and all that his lust was to build in Jerusalem and Lebanon and in all the land of his kingdom. And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, the children of the said nations that were left in the land, because the children of Israel were not able to destroy them, did Solomon make tributaries unto this day. And of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen. But they were men of war and his servants and his lords and Captains and rulers of his chariots and of his Horsemen. And these many lords that oversaw the work, had Solomon five hundred and fifty, which ruled the people that wrought in the work. And Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto the house which Solomon had built for her. And after that he built Mello. And thrice a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he had built unto the LORD, to burn the fat thereon: which altar is before the LORD. And when king Solomon had made the house perfect, he made ships in Eziongeber which is beside Eloth, on the brink of the reed sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent by ship also of his servants, that were shipmen and expert in the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they went to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, to the sum of four hundred and twenty two talents, and brought it to Solomon. And the queen of Sheba heard of the wisdom of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, and came to prove him with riddles. And she came to Jerusalem with a mighty great multitude of Camels that bare sweet odours and gold exceeding much, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon expounded her all her questions, that there was not one thing hid from the king which he expounded her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his servitors and their apparel, and his butlers and his sacrifice that he offered in the house of the LORD, she was astonished. Then she said to the king, "The word I heard in mine own land of thy deeds and wisdom, is true. Howbeit, I believed it not till I came and saw it with mine eyes. And see, the one half was not told me: for thy wisdom and goodness exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men: and happy are these thy servants, which stand ever before thee and hear thy wisdom. And blessed be the LORD thy God which had a lust to thee, to set thee on the seat of Israel, because the LORD loved Israel for ever, and therefore made thee king, to do equity and righteousness." And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of sweet odours exceeding much, and precious stones. There came never after such abundance of sweet odors as the Queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. And thereto the ships of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones. And king Solomon made of the almug trees pillars in the house of the LORD in the king's palace, and made harps and psalteries for singers. There came no more almug trees so, nor was any more seen unto this day. And king Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked of him: besides that he gave her with his own hand. And so she returned unto her own country with her servants. The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred three score and six talents of gold, besides that he had of chapmen and merchants of apothecaries and of all the kings of Arabia and of the lords of the country. And king Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold, six hundred sicles of gold went to a buckler. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold, three pounds of gold going to a piece, and put them in the house of the wood of Lebanon. And the king made a great seat of Ivory and covered it with precious gold. And the seat had six steps. And the top of the seat was round behind his back with pommels on either side on the place where he sat, and two Lions standing beside the pommels. And there stood twelve lions on the steps, six on a side. There was none like seen in any kingdom. And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the wood of Lebanon were of pure gold. And as for silver, it was nothing worth in the days of Solomon. For the sea ships which the king had in the sea, with the ships of Hiram, came every third year laden with gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. And so king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the world resorted to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And brought him every man his present, vessels of silver and of gold, and of raiment, harness, sweet odours, horses and mules, year by year. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: so that he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he bestowed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver in Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and Cedar as plenteous as mulberry trees that grow in the valleys. And Solomon's horses came out of Egypt from Kue: the merchants fetched them from Kue at a price. A chariot came out of Egypt for six hundred sicles of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And even so, by the hands of the said merchants, horses were brought out for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Syria. But king Solomon loved many outlandish women: the daughter of Pharaoh, and of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites, even of nations of which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, "See ye come not at them, nor let them come to you: for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless to such Solomon clave and fell in love with them. And he had seven hundred very Queens and three hundred concubines which turned always his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods: so that his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. And Solomon followed Ashtaroth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD and continued not after the LORD as did David his father. After that, Solomon built an altar for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites in the hill that standeth before Jerusalem, and unto Moloch the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his outlandish wives, which burnt cense and offered unto their gods. Then was the LORD angry with Solomon because his heart turned from the LORD God of Israel which appeared unto him twice, and gave him a charge of this thing that he should not follow other gods. But he kept not that which the LORD commanded him: whereupon the LORD said to Solomon, "Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept mine covenant and mine ordinances which I have commanded thee, therefore I will rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it, because of David thy father: but I will take it from thy son. Howbeit I will not take away all: but will give one tribe to thy son, because of David my servant and because of Jerusalem which I have chosen." And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, one Hadad, an Edomite and of the king's lineage of Edom. For when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury them that were slain, he smote all the males in Edom - for Joab remained six months, and all Israel, till he had rooted out all the males that were in Edom. And this Hadad fled, and certain other Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go to Egypt; Hadad being yet a little lad. And they arose out of Midian and went to Paran, and took men with them out of Paran and came to Egypt unto Pharaoh king thereof, which gave him a house, and appointed him victuals and gave him lands. And Hadad gat great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the Queen. And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son. And Tahpenes weaned him in Pharaoh's house. And he was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. And when Hadad heard say in Egypt that David was laid to sleep with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead also, he said to Pharaoh, "Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country." Then said Pharaoh unto him, "What lackest thou here with me, that thou wouldest go to thine own country?" And he said, "Nothing: howbeit, let me go." And God stirred up another adversary, one Rezon the son of Eliada, which fled from Hadadezer king of Zobah his master. Which Rezon gathered men unto him and became captain over the company, when David slew them. And they went to Damascus and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, with the evil that Hadad did, which abhorred Israel and reigned in Syria. And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah - whose mother was called Zeruah and was a widow and Solomon's servant - lifted up his hand against the king. And hereof came it, that he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built Mello and mended broken places in the city of David his father. And this fellow Jeroboam was an active man. And when Solomon saw the young man, that he wrought so lustily in the work, he made him ruler over all the charges of the house of Joseph. And it chanced, at that season, as Jeroboam was gone out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him by the way, having a new mantle on him, and they two alone in the field. And Ahijah caught the new mantle that was on him and rent it in twelve pieces, and said to Jeroboam, "Take thee ten pieces. For this sayeth the LORD God of Israel, 'Behold, I will rent the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee, and he shall have one, for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel: because they have forsaken me, and have bowed themselves unto Ashtaroth the God of the Sidonians, and to Chemosh the God of the Moabites and to Milcom the God of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that pleaseth me, and mine ordinances and customs, as David his father. Howbeit, I will take none of the kingdom out of his hand: but will make him chief all his life long, for David my servant's sake, which I chose: because he kept my commandments and ordinances. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give unto thee ten tribes of it: and will give his son one, that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me, to put my name there. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign upon all that thy soul desireth and shalt be king over Israel. And if thou shalt hearken unto all that I command thee, and shalt walk in my ways and do that is right in my sight, that thou keep mine ordinances and commandments as David my servant did: then will I be with thee and build thee a house that shall continue, as I built for my servant David, and will give Israel unto thee. And therewith will I vex the seed of David, but not forever.'" And Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam: wherefore Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt unto Shishak king of Egypt and continued there until the death of Solomon. And the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did, and his wisdom, are written in the book of the Acts of Solomon. And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem upon all Israel, was forty years. And then he laid him to rest with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
And as he yet spake, see, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, "Come, for thou art a lusty blood and bringest good tidings." And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, "Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. And the king sent with him, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they have set him upon the king's mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the Prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. And as they came up again they rejoiced that the city did sound again. And that is the noise that ye have heard. And thereto Solomon sitteth on the seat of the kingdom. And moreover, the king's servants went in to bless our lord king David saying, 'Thy God make the name of Solomon more favoured than thine, and his seat more glorious than thine.' And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And last of all thus said the king, 'Blessed be the LORD God of Israel which hath made one to sit on my seat this day, even mine eyes seeing it.'" And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid and rose up and went every man his way. And Adonijah, fearing Solomon, arose and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told Solomon, how that Adonijah for fear of king Solomon hath caught handfast by the horns of the altar, saying, "Let king Solomon swear unto me this day, that he will not slay his servant with the sword." And Solomon said, "If he will be a child of virtue, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth. But and if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die for it." And thereupon king Solomon sent and fetched him down from the altar. And he came and did obeisance unto king Solomon. And Solomon said to him, "Get thee to thine house." When the days of David were drawn nigh, and he should die; he charged Solomon his son, saying, "I must walk by the way of the world. Neverthelater, be thou strong and quite thyself manfully. And see that thou keep the appointment of the LORD thy God, that thou walk in his ways and keep his commandments, ordinances, laws and testimonies, even as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayest understand all that thou oughtest to do, and all that thou shouldest meddle with. That the LORD may make good his promise which he hath promised me, saying, 'If thy children shall take heed to their ways, that they walk before me in truth, with all their hearts and with all their souls; then thou shalt never be without one sitting on the seat of Israel.' Moreover thou knowest how Joab the son of Zeruiah hath served me, and what he hath done to the two captains of the hosts of Israel - unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether - how he slew them and shed the blood of war in time of peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins and in his shoes that were on his feet. Deal with him therefore according to thy wisdom and see that thou bring not his hoar head down to the grave in peace. And show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among them that eat at thine own table, because they so clave to me when I fled from Absalom thy brother. And see, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin of Bahurim, which cursed me with a bitter curse what time I went to Mahanaim. But he came against me to Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, "I will not slay thee with the sword." But pardon thou him not. Thou art a man of wisdom and shalt know what to do to him, see therefore that thou bring his hoar head to the grave with blood." And so David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And the days which David reigned upon Israel were forty years: seven years in Hebron, and thirty and three years in Jerusalem. And Solomon sat upon the seat of David his father and his kingdom was established mightily. After that, Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, "Betokeneth thy coming peace?" And he said, "It betokeneth peace." Then said he, "I have a matter to show thee." And she said, "Say on." And he said, "Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel put their eyes on me, that I should reign. Howbeit, the kingdom was turned away and given to my brother, for it was appointed him of the LORD: and now I ask a petition of thee, whereof deny me not." And she said unto him, "Tell what it is." Then he said, "Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king - for he will not say thee nay - that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife." And Bathsheba said, "Well, I will speak for thee unto the king." And thereupon Bathsheba went unto king Solomon to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up against her and bowed himself unto her, and sat him down on his seat. And there was a seat set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right side. Then she said, "I must desire a little petition of thee: say me not nay." And the king said unto her, "Ask on my mother: for I will not say thee nay." And she said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife." And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, "Why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? But rather ask for him the kingdom, seeing he is mine elder brother! Even for him ask it; and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah." Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, "God do so to me and so thereto if Adonijah have not spoken this word against himself. Now therefore as surely as the LORD liveth which hath established me and set me on the seat of David my father, and which hath made me a house as he promised me, Adonijah shall die this day." And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and smote him that he died. And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, "Get thee to Anathoth unto thine own fields, for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time kill thee, because thou hast borne the Ark of the Lord Jehovah before David my father, and because thou sufferest with my father in all his afflictions." And so Solomon put away Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD: to fulfill the words of the LORD which he spake over the house of Eli in Shiloh. Then tidings came to Joab - for Joab had turned after Adonijah, but not after Absalom - whereupon he fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and caught handfast on the horns of the altar. And it was told king Solomon how that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and stood by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada saying, "Go and smite him." And when Benaiah was come to the tabernacle of the LORD he said unto him, "Thus sayeth the king: 'Come out.'" And he said, "Nay: But I will die even here." And Benaiah brought the king word, saying, "Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me." And the king said, "Do even as he hath said: smite him and bury him, and take away the blood which Joab shed, causeless, from me and from the house of my father. And the LORD bring his blood upon his own head, for he smote two men righteouser and better than he, and slew them with the sword; my father unwitting: even Abner the son of Ner captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether captain of the host of Judah. And their blood return upon the head of Joab and on the head of his seed forever. And prosperity be unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his seat, of the LORD forever." And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and smote him and slew him and buried him in his own house in the wilderness. And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host, and put Zadok the priest in the room of Abiathar. Then the king sent and called Shimei, and said to him, "Build thee a house in Jerusalem and dwell there and see that thou go not once thence any whither. For be thou sure of it: the day thou goest out and passest over the river of Kidron, thou shalt die for it, and thy blood shall be on thine own head." And Shimei said unto the king, "It is well said: as my lord the king hath said, so will his servant do." And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many a day. And it chanced, at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And one told Shimei, saying, "See, thy servants be in Gath." And Shimei stood up and saddled his ass and gat him to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants, and came and brought them again from Gath. But it was told Solomon how that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and was come again. And the king sent and called Shimei and said unto him, "Did I not adjure thee by the LORD, and testified unto thee saying, 'Be sure whensoever thou goest out and walkest abroad any whither, thou shalt die for it?' And thou answeredst me, 'It is good tidings that I have heard.' Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I commanded thee?" And then the king said to Shimei, "Thou rememberest all the wickedness which thine heart knoweth that thou didst to David my father. The LORD therefore render again thy wickedness upon thine own head: and king Solomon be blessed, and the fear of the LORD be established before the LORD forever." And the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada: which went out and smote him that he died. And so was the kingdom settled in the hand of Solomon. Then Solomon drew affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had made an end of building his own house and the house of the LORD and the walls of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in altars made on hills, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD until those days. And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the ordinances of David his father, save only that he sacrificed and offered cense upon altars in hills. And the king went to Gibeon, to offer there: for that was a great offering place. And there Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings upon that altar. And in Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, "Ask what I shall give thee." And Solomon said, "Thou hast showed unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy; according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and plainness of heart with thee. And thou hast kept for him this great mercy, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his seat: as it is come to pass this day. And now LORD, my God, it is thou that hast made thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am a young lad and know not how to order myself. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a people that are so many that they can not be told nor numbered for multitude. Give therefore unto thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, and to discern between good, and bad. For who is able to judge this, thy so weighty a people?" And it pleased the LORD well, that Solomon had desired this thing. Wherefore God said unto him, "Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked long life, neither hast asked riches, nor the lives of thine enemies, but hast asked the discretion to understand equity: see, I have done according to thy petition. And behold, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And thereto I have given thee that thou askedst not, both riches and honour: so that there shall be no king like thee all thy days. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep mine ordinances and commandments as David thy father did walk, I will lengthen thy days also." When Solomon awoke, this was his dream. And he came to Jerusalem and presented himself before the Ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Then came there two women that were harlots unto the king and stood before him. And the one of them said, "Oh my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. And I was delivered of a child with her in the said house. And the third day after that I was delivered, she was delivered also: we two being together and no stranger with us in the house save we two alone. And this woman's child died in a night, for she had overlaid it. And then she arose at midnight and took my son from my side, while thine handmaid slept and laid it in her bosom, and put her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose up in the morning to give my child suck: see, it was dead. But when I had looked more diligently upon it in the morning: Behold, it was not my son which I did bear." And the other woman said, "It is not so: But the living is my son, and the dead thine." And she said again, "Thou sayest untrue, for the dead is thy son, and the living mine." And thus they pleaded before the king. Then said the king, "The one sayeth, 'This that is alive is my son, and the dead is thine.' And the other sayeth, 'Nay: But thy son is the dead and the live child is mine.'" Then said the king, "Bring me a sword." And they brought a sword before the king. And then the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give the one half to the one, and the other to the other." Then spake the woman whose son lived, unto the king - for her motherly heart was kindled with pity over her son - and said, "I beseech thee, my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it." And the other said, "It shall be neither mine nor thine, but divide it." Then the king answered and said, "Give her the living child and slay it not, for she is the mother thereof." And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged and feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice. And so king Solomon was king over all Israel. And these were his lords: Azariah the son of Zadok the priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; And Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the general receivers; And Zabud the son of Nathan was a waiter and the king's companion; And Ahishar, the steward of household; And Adoniram the son of Abda over the tribute. And Solomon had twelve general receivers over all Israel which sustained the king and his household: each man his month in a year. Whose names are these: The son of Hur in mount Ephraim; the son of Dekar in Makaz, in Salem, in Bethshemesh, in Elon and in Bethhanan; the son of Hesed in Arubboth, and to him pertained Socoh and all the land of Hepher; the son of Abinadab, which had all the regions of Dor, and Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife; Baanah the son of Ahilud had Taanach, Megiddo, and all Bet-Shean which is by Zarethan beneath Jezreel, and from Bet-Shean to Abelmeholah and unto beyond Jokmeam; The son of Geber had Ramoth Gilead, and his were the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh which lie in Gilead, and his were the coasts of Argob in Bashan, three score great cities with wall and bars of brass; Abinadab the son of Ado had Mahanaim; Ahimaaz had Naphtali, and he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife; Baanah the son of Hushai had Asher and Aloth; Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah had Issachar; Shimei the son of Ela had Benjamin; Geber the son of Uri had the country of Gilead and the land of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan, and was alone receiver in the land. And Judah and Israel were many, even as the sand of the sea in number, eating, drinking, and making merry. And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river throughout all the land of the Philistines unto the borders of Egypt, and they brought presents and served Solomon all days of his life. And Solomon's food was in one day thirty quarters of manchet flour and three score quarters of meal; ten stalled oxen, and twenty out of the pastures and a hundred sheep and goats, besides harts, bucks and buballs and fat poultry. For he ruled in all the regions on the other side Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza and also over all the kings on the other side the said Euphrates. And he had peace with all his servants on every side. And Judah and Israel dwelt without fear, every man under his vine and under his fig tree from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. And the foresaid general receivers made purveyance for king Solomon and for all that came to king Solomon's table, every man his month, so that there lacked nothing. And as for barley and straw for the horses and beasts they brought unto the places where the officers were, every man in his office. And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much and a large heart, even as the sand along by the sea bank: so that Solomon's wisdom exceeded the wisdom of all them of the East country and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And he excelled all men in wisdom, both Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol and Darda the sons of Mahol. And his name spread abroad among all nations on every side. And Solomon wrote three thousand proverbs. And his songs were a thousand and five. And he disputed of trees, even from the Cedar tree that groweth in Lebanon unto the Hyssop that springeth out of the wall. And he disputed of beasts, fowls, worms, and fishes. And there came of all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all kings of the earth which had heard of his wisdom. And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father. And thereto Hiram was ever a lover of David's. And Solomon sent again to Hiram, saying, "Thou knowest of David my father, how he could not build a house unto the name of the LORD his God for war which he had on every side, until the LORD had put them under his foot. But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor any evil plague. And therefore I am disposed to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God, as he promised David my father, saying, 'Thy son which I will put upon thy seat for thee, he shall build a house unto my name.' Now then, command that they hew me Cedar trees in Lebanon. And let my servants be with thine, and I will give the hire of thy servants in all such things as thou shalt appoint, for thou knowest that there are not among us that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians." When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, "Blessed be the LORD this day which hath set David a wise son over this mighty people." And Hiram sent again to Solomon, saying, "I have accepted the request which thou sentest to me for, and will satisfy all thy lust, concerning timber of Cedar trees and fir. My servants shall bring them from Lebanon to the sea. And I will convey them by ship unto the place that thou shalt send me word, and will cause them to be discharged there, that thou mayest receive them. And thou shalt do me this pleasure again, to minister food for mine house." And so Hiram gave Solomon Cedar trees and fir trees, as much as he desired. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand quarters of wheat to feed his household withal, and twenty butts of pure oil. And so much gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon and they were confedered together. And king Solomon raised a tribute throughout all Israel. And the tribute was thirty thousand men, which he sent to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by course, so that they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was over the tribute. And Solomon had three score and ten thousand that bare burdens, and three score and ten thousand that hewed in the mountains besides the lords he had to oversee the work, in number three thousand and three hundred, which ruled the people that wrought in the work. And at the commandment of the king, they brought great stones, and that free stones, and hewed thereto, to lay in the foundation of the house. And Solomon's masons and the masons of Hiram did hew them, with them of the borders. And so they prepared both in timber and stone to build the house. And it came to pass, the four hundred and fourscore year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and the fourth year of the reign of Solomon upon Israel, and the second month called Ziv, that he began to build the temple unto the LORD. And the house which Solomon built for the LORD was three score cubits long and twenty broad and thirty cubits high. And the porch that was before the body of the temple was twenty cubits long after the measure of the breadth of the house, and ten broad, even at the very end of the house. And he made unto the house, windows to open and shut. And under the walls of the house he made galleries round about, both round about the temple and also the quyre. And so made sides round about. And the nethermost gallery was five cubits broad and the middle gallery six. And the third, seven cubits broad. For he made the walls without, whereon the beams lay, ever thinner and thinner, so that they were not fastened in the walls of the house. And the house was built of stone made perfect already before it was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer or axe either any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. And the door of the middle gallery was in the end of the house on the right side. And men went up with winding stairs into the middle gallery, and out of the middle into the third. And so he built the house and finished it, and roofed it with beams of Cedar timber made hollow and joined together. And then he built chambers over all the temple of five cubits height, and coupled the house together with beams of Cedar. And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, "Concerning the house which thou art in building: if thou wilt walk in mine ordinances and execute my laws and keep all my commandments, to walk in them; then will I make good unto thee my promises which I promised David thy father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel." And so therefore Solomon built the house and finished it, and sealed the walls of the house within, with ribs of Cedar tree: even from the pavement unto the roof did he seal it within, and boarded the floor of the house with planks of fir. And he sealed twenty cubits in the end of the temple, both floor and walls, with Cedar, and dressed it within to be the quyre and place most holy. And the first house, that is to say, the body of the temple, was forty cubits long. And the Cedar of the house within was carved with knops and graven with flowers, and all was Cedar timber, so that no stone was seen. And the quyre that was within the temple, he prepared to set there the Ark of the covenant of the LORD. And the quyre was twenty cubits long, and twenty in breadth and twenty in height. And he sealed it with pure gold, and boarded the altar with Cedar. And Solomon sealed the house within also with pure gold. And he made golden bars run along the quyre, which he had covered with gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold until he had ended it. And the altar that was in the quyre he overlaid with gold also. And within the quyre he made two Cherubims of olive tree, ten cubits high apiece, and every wing five cubits long: so that from the uttermost part of one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. And the other Cherub was ten cubits high also: so that both the Cherubs were of one measure and one size. The height of the one Cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other. And he put the Cherubs in the middle of the inner house. And the Cherubs stretched their wings, so that the one wing of the one touched the one wall, and the one wing of the other touched the other wall. And the other two wings of them touched one another in the midst of the house. And he overlaid the Cherubs with gold. And all the walls of the house round about, he garnished with work of Cherubs and palm trees and graven flowers, both within in the quyre and without in the temple. And the floor of the house he covered with gold both within in the quyre and also without in the temple. And in the entering of the quyre he made two doors of olive tree, with the upper and two side posts five square. And the two doors of olive tree he graved with graving of Cherubs and Palm trees and graved flowers, and covered them with gold, and laid gold over the Cherubs and also the Palm trees. And in like manner, unto the door of the temple, he made posts of olive tree four square, and two doors of fir tree, and either door with two folding leaves and graved thereon Cherubs, Palm trees and flowers, and covered them with gold made plain by a ruler. And then he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone and one row of Cedar wood. In the fourth year of his reign was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, even in the month Ziv, and in the eleventh year in the month Bul which is the eighth month, it was full finished in all that pertained thereto, and fashioned as it should be in all points. And so was he seven years in building of it. And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years space and full finished it. And he built the house of the wood of Lebanon, a hundred cubits long and fifty broad, and thirty high, four square with rows of Cedar pillars and Cedar beams along upon the pillars. And the roof was Cedar above on high upon the beams that lay a high on the pillars, which pillars were forty and five in number, fifteen on a row, and the spaces between the pillars were one against another three fold. And all the doors with the side posts were four square one against another three fold. And he made a porch of pillars fifty cubits long and thirty cubits broad: and yet a porch before that with pillars, and a thick pillar before that. Then he made a porch to sit and judge in, sealed with Cedar throughout all the pavements. And his own house where he kept residence, in another court without that porch, was of the same work. And then Solomon made a house for Pharaoh's daughter which he had taken to wife, like unto that porch. And all these things were of rich stones hewed after a measure and sawed with saws within and without, even from the foundation unto that whereon the beams were laid, and on the outside thereto, toward the great court. And the foundation was of rich stones and the mighty great stones of ten cubits and of eight. And above were rich stones hewed according to the same size, and also with Cedar. And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stone and one row of Cedar planks. And likewise was it in the inner court of the house of the LORD and of the porch of the temple. And king Solomon sent and fetched one Hiram out of Tyre, a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, his father being of Tyre. Which Hiram was a craftsman in brass, and full of wisdom, understanding and cunning to work all manner of work in brass. And he came to king Solomon and wrought all his work. He cast two pillars of brass of eighteen cubits apiece high, and a string of twelve cubits might compass either of them about. And he made two head pieces of molten brass to set on the tops of the pillars, of five cubits long apiece, with garlands of braided work and hoops of chain work for the head pieces that were on the pillars, seven for the one and seven for the other. And he made the pillars, and for either of the head pieces a garland with two rows of pomegranates to cover them withal. And the head pieces that were on the tops of the pillars were wrought with lilies in the porch the space of four cubits of them. And the pomegranates above and beneath on the wreathen chains that compassed the middle of the head pieces were in number two hundred on either head piece. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple, and when he had set up the right pillar, he called the name thereon Jachin, and when he had set up the left pillar, he called the name thereof Boaz. And the tops of the pillars were thus wrought with lilies, and so was their workmanship finished. Then he cast a sea of brass, ten cubits wide from brim to brim and round in compass, and five cubits high. And a string of thirty cubits might compass it about, and under the brim of it as it were apples compassed and embraced the sea of ten cubits wide in two rows cast with it when it was cast. And it stood on twelve oxen: of which three looked North, three West, three South, and three East, and the sea on high upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And it was a hand breadth thick, and the brim wrought like the brim of a cup with flowers of lilies. And it contained two thousand baths. And he made ten bottoms of brass, four cubits long and four cubits broad apiece, and three high. And the works of the bottoms was on this manner that the sides were as it were flat boards between the ledges. And on the flat boards between the ledges were lions, oxen and Cherubs. And upon the ledges that were above and beneath the lions and oxen, was joined pendant work. And every bottom had four brazen wheels, whose axletrees were also of brass. And in the four corners were undersetters under the laver cast, each over against his fellow. And the stalk of the laver was in the middle of the bottom one cubit high, and a cubit and a half round, and it had knops thereon in the bare places which were foursquare not round. And under the sides were four wheels and their axletrees joined fast to the bottom. And the height of every wheel was a cubit and a half. And the workmanship of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel. And the axletrees, the navels, spokes and shafts were all molten. And the four undersetters in the four corners were of the very bottoms. And under the stalk of the laver in the midst of the bottom was there a round foot of half a cubit high. And thereon, plain places and ledges of the self. And he graved in the plain and also on the ledges, Cherubs, lions and palm trees, everywhere round about. And on this manner he made the ten bottoms cast work: all of one measure and one size. Then he made ten lavers of brass containing forty baths apiece, and they were of four cubits apiece, for every one of the bottoms a laver. And he put five of those bottoms on the right corner of the temple, and other five on the left: And put the sea on the right corner of the temple Eastward and toward the South. And Hiram made pots, shovels and basins, and so furnished all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD: that is to say, two pillars and two scalps of the heads that were on the tops of the two pillars, and four hundred pomegranates upon two wreaths, two rows on either wreath, to cover the two scalps of the heads that were on the tops of the two pillars. And the ten bottoms of brass with ten lavers upon them; and a sea with twelve oxen under it; and pots, shovels and basins. And all these vessels which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD were of bright brass. And in the plain of Jordan did the king cast them: even in the clay of the earth between Succoth and Zarethan. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, for the exceeding abundance of brass that was in them. And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the Altar of gold, and the table of gold whereon the shewbread was put. And five candlesticks, for the right side, and as many for the left, before the quyre, of pure gold: with flowers, lamps, and snuffers of gold; and bowls, Psalteries, basins, spoons and fire pans of pure gold; and hinges of gold both for the doors of the quyre, the place most holy, and for the doors of the temple also. And so was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And then Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated in silver, gold and other vessels, and put them to the treasure of the house of the LORD. Then Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and ancient lords of the children of Israel, unto him to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled unto king Solomon to the feast that falleth in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And when all the elders of Israel were come, the priests took up the Ark of the LORD, and brought it and also the tabernacle of witness and all the holy vessels that were therein. And the priests and the Levites brought them up. And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled, and were with him before the Ark, did offer sheep and oxen that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And so the priests brought the Ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place: even into the quyre of the temple and place most holy, under the wings of the Cherubs. For the Cherubs stretched out their wings over the Ark, and covered both it and also the staves thereof on high upon it. Howbeit the staves were so long that the ends of them appeared out of the holy place before the quyre, but were not seen without. And there they be unto this day. And there was nothing in the Ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel after they were come out of Egypt. And when the priests were come out of the Holy place, then a cloud filled the house of the LORD, that the priests could not endure to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD. Then spake Solomon, "The LORD said that he would dwell in darkness. I have built thee a house to dwell in, and a habitation for thee to abide in forever." And the king turned his face and blessed all the congregation of Israel, all the congregation standing. And he said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath fulfilled with his hand, that he spake with his mouth unto David my father, saying, 'From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city among any of the tribes of Israel, to build a house, that my name might be there: But I have chosen David to be ruler over my people Israel.' And it was in the heart of David my father, to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. But the LORD God said unto David my father, 'In that it was in thine heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well, that thou wast so minded. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come out of thy loins, he shall build a house for my name.' And the LORD hath made good his word that he spake. For I stood up in the room of David my father, and sat on the seat of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And I have prepared therein a place for the Ark wherein the covenant of the LORD is, which he made with our fathers, after he had brought them out of the land of Egypt." And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the sight of all the congregation of Israel and stretched out his hands to heaven, and said, "LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above or in the earth beneath, that keepest appointment and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their hearts: which also hast kept with thy servants David my father, that thou promisedest him. Thou spakest with thy mouth and hast fulfilled with thine hand, as it is come to pass this day. And now LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that thou promisedest him, saying, 'Thou shalt not be without one or other before me, sitting on the seat of Israel: Howbeit, if thy children shall take heed to their ways that they walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.' Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be stable which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. But indeed can God dwell on the earth? Behold: neither heaven, nor heaven above all heavens are able to contain thee - how much less then this house that I have built? But look to the prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, to give an ear unto the voice and prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day, that thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day; and upon the place, of which thou hast said, my name shall be there: that thou hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray in this place. And hearken unto the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel which they shall pray in this place. And hear thou, up unto heaven thy dwelling place, and when thou hearest have mercy. And if any man trespass against his neighbour, and his neighbour take an adjuration to adjure him withal, and the adjuration come before thine altar at this house, then hearken thou up to heaven, and work and judge thy servants, that thou condemn the wicked to bring his way upon his head, and justify the righteous to give him according to his righteousness. When thy people Israel be put to the worse before their enemies, because they have sinned against thee, and afterward turn again to thee and praise thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house: Then hear thou up to heaven and be merciful unto the sin of thy people Israel, and bring thee again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. If heaven be shut up, that there be no rain, because they have sinned against thee: yet if they pray in this place and praise thy name and turn from their sins, through thy scourging of them: then hear thou up to heaven, and be merciful unto the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel, that thou show them a good way to walk in, and give rain upon thy land that thou hast given unto thy people to inherit. If there chance dearth in the land, pestilence, blasting or withering of corn, or that the fruits be devoured of grasshoppers or caterpillars, or if their enemies besiege them in the land and in their own cities, or whatsoever plague or sickness chance: then hear thou up to heaven thy dwelling place, all the prayers and supplications that shall be made of all men throughout all thy people Israel, which shall knowledge every man the plague of his own heart, and stretch forth his hands unto this house. And be merciful, and work, and give every man according to his ways - even as thou only knowest every man's heart, for thou knowest the hearts of all the children of Adam - that they may fear thee as long as they live upon the earth which thou gavest unto their fathers. And likewise, if a stranger that is not of thy people Israel come out of a far country for thy name's sake - for they shall hear of thy great name and of thy mighty hand and stretched-out arm - and therefore if he come and pray at this place, hear thou up to heaven thy dwelling place and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all nations of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee as do thy people Israel, and that it may be known that this house which I have built is called after thy name. And when they go out to battle against their enemies whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen and toward the house that I have built for thy name: hear thou their prayers and supplications, up to heaven, and judge their cause. And finally, when they shall have sinned against thee - for there is no man that sinneth not - and thou art angry with them and hast delivered them to their enemies, that they be carried away prisoners unto the land of their enemies, whether far or near; yet if they turn again unto their hearts in the land where they be in captivity, and return and pray unto thee in the land of them that hold them captive, saying, 'We have sinned and have done wickedly and have trespassed,' and so turn again unto thee with all their hearts and all their souls in the land of their enemies which hold them captive, and pray unto thee, toward the land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou their prayer and supplication up to heaven thy dwelling place, and judge their causes, and be merciful unto thy people that have sinned against thee, and unto all their trespass that they have trespassed against thee, and get them favour in the sight of them that hold them captive that they may have compassion on them. For they be thy people and thine inheritance which thou broughtest out of Egypt, from the furnace of iron. And let thine eyes be open unto the prayer of thy servant and unto the prayer of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them, in all that they call unto thee for. For thou didst separate them to be thine inheritance, above all the nations of the earth, as thou saidest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah." And when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD and from kneeling on his knees and stretching of his hands up to heaven, and stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, "Blessed be the LORD that hath given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he promised: so that there is not one word escaped of all the good promises which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. And the LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and forsake us not, neither leave us, but that he bow our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, ordinances and customs which he commanded our fathers. And these my words which I have prayed before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he defend the cause of his servant and of his people Israel evermore, that all nations of the earth may know that the LORD, he is God and there is none other. And I pray God that your hearts may be sound with the LORD our God, to walk in his ordinances and to keep his laws as we do this day." And the king, and all Israel with him, offered offerings before the LORD. And the peace offerings that Solomon offered unto the LORD, were twenty two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep: And so the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. And the same day the king hallowed the middle of the court that is before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brazen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of the peace offerings. And Solomon held that same time a high feast and all Israel with him, a mighty congregation, even from the coasts of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and yet seven days, that is, fourteen days. And the eighth day he sent the people away. And they blessed the king and went unto their tents joyous and glad in heart for all the goodness that the LORD had showed unto David his servant and to Israel his people. And when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD and of the king's palace, and of all that his desire and lust was to make: the LORD appeared unto him again, as he appeared to him at Gibeon. And the LORD said unto him, "I have heard thy prayer and intercession that thou madest before me, and have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there forever and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in pureness of heart and plainness, to do all that I have commanded thee, and shalt keep mine ordinances and customs: then I will establish the seat of thy kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, 'Thou shalt not be without one or other upon the seat of Israel.' But and if ye and your children shall turn away from after me, and shall not keep mine ordinances which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods and bow yourselves unto them: then I will weed Israel out of the land which I have given them. And this house which I have hallowed for my name, I will put out of my sight. And Israel shall be a proverb and a fable unto all nations. And this house which is so high, all that pass by it shall be astonished and shall hiss and say, 'Why hath the LORD dealt on this manner with this land and with this house?' And it shall be answered then, 'Because they forsook the LORD their God which brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods and have stooped unto him and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.'" Then at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, that is to wete, the house of the LORD and the king's palace - because Hiram the king of Tyre had supported him with Cedar, fir and gold, as much as he desired - therefore Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And when Hiram was come from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, they pleased him not. Wherefore he said, "What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother?" And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. This Hiram had sent the king six score hundredweight of gold. And this is the sum of the tribute, which king Solomon raised to build the house of the LORD and his own house, and Mello and the walls of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, went up and took Gezer and burnt it with fire, and slew the Cananites that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a present unto his daughter that was Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer and Bethhoron the nether; and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness that is in the land; and all the store cities that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen and all that his lust was to build in Jerusalem and Lebanon and in all the land of his kingdom. And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, the children of the said nations that were left in the land, because the children of Israel were not able to destroy them, did Solomon make tributaries unto this day. And of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen. But they were men of war and his servants and his lords and Captains and rulers of his chariots and of his Horsemen. And these many lords that oversaw the work, had Solomon five hundred and fifty, which ruled the people that wrought in the work. And Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto the house which Solomon had built for her. And after that he built Mello. And thrice a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he had built unto the LORD, to burn the fat thereon: which altar is before the LORD. And when king Solomon had made the house perfect, he made ships in Eziongeber which is beside Eloth, on the brink of the reed sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent by ship also of his servants, that were shipmen and expert in the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they went to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, to the sum of four hundred and twenty two talents, and brought it to Solomon. And the queen of Sheba heard of the wisdom of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, and came to prove him with riddles. And she came to Jerusalem with a mighty great multitude of Camels that bare sweet odours and gold exceeding much, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon expounded her all her questions, that there was not one thing hid from the king which he expounded her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his servitors and their apparel, and his butlers and his sacrifice that he offered in the house of the LORD, she was astonished. Then she said to the king, "The word I heard in mine own land of thy deeds and wisdom, is true. Howbeit, I believed it not till I came and saw it with mine eyes. And see, the one half was not told me: for thy wisdom and goodness exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men: and happy are these thy servants, which stand ever before thee and hear thy wisdom. And blessed be the LORD thy God which had a lust to thee, to set thee on the seat of Israel, because the LORD loved Israel for ever, and therefore made thee king, to do equity and righteousness." And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of sweet odours exceeding much, and precious stones. There came never after such abundance of sweet odors as the Queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. And thereto the ships of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones. And king Solomon made of the almug trees pillars in the house of the LORD in the king's palace, and made harps and psalteries for singers. There came no more almug trees so, nor was any more seen unto this day. And king Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked of him: besides that he gave her with his own hand. And so she returned unto her own country with her servants. The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred three score and six talents of gold, besides that he had of chapmen and merchants of apothecaries and of all the kings of Arabia and of the lords of the country. And king Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold, six hundred sicles of gold went to a buckler. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold, three pounds of gold going to a piece, and put them in the house of the wood of Lebanon. And the king made a great seat of Ivory and covered it with precious gold. And the seat had six steps. And the top of the seat was round behind his back with pommels on either side on the place where he sat, and two Lions standing beside the pommels. And there stood twelve lions on the steps, six on a side. There was none like seen in any kingdom. And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the wood of Lebanon were of pure gold. And as for silver, it was nothing worth in the days of Solomon. For the sea ships which the king had in the sea, with the ships of Hiram, came every third year laden with gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. And so king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the world resorted to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And brought him every man his present, vessels of silver and of gold, and of raiment, harness, sweet odours, horses and mules, year by year. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: so that he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he bestowed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver in Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and Cedar as plenteous as mulberry trees that grow in the valleys. And Solomon's horses came out of Egypt from Kue: the merchants fetched them from Kue at a price. A chariot came out of Egypt for six hundred sicles of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And even so, by the hands of the said merchants, horses were brought out for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Syria. But king Solomon loved many outlandish women: the daughter of Pharaoh, and of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites, even of nations of which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, "See ye come not at them, nor let them come to you: for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless to such Solomon clave and fell in love with them. And he had seven hundred very Queens and three hundred concubines which turned always his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods: so that his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. And Solomon followed Ashtaroth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD and continued not after the LORD as did David his father. After that, Solomon built an altar for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites in the hill that standeth before Jerusalem, and unto Moloch the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his outlandish wives, which burnt cense and offered unto their gods. Then was the LORD angry with Solomon because his heart turned from the LORD God of Israel which appeared unto him twice, and gave him a charge of this thing that he should not follow other gods. But he kept not that which the LORD commanded him: whereupon the LORD said to Solomon, "Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept mine covenant and mine ordinances which I have commanded thee, therefore I will rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it, because of David thy father: but I will take it from thy son. Howbeit I will not take away all: but will give one tribe to thy son, because of David my servant and because of Jerusalem which I have chosen." And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, one Hadad, an Edomite and of the king's lineage of Edom. For when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury them that were slain, he smote all the males in Edom - for Joab remained six months, and all Israel, till he had rooted out all the males that were in Edom. And this Hadad fled, and certain other Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go to Egypt; Hadad being yet a little lad. And they arose out of Midian and went to Paran, and took men with them out of Paran and came to Egypt unto Pharaoh king thereof, which gave him a house, and appointed him victuals and gave him lands. And Hadad gat great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the Queen. And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son. And Tahpenes weaned him in Pharaoh's house. And he was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. And when Hadad heard say in Egypt that David was laid to sleep with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead also, he said to Pharaoh, "Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country." Then said Pharaoh unto him, "What lackest thou here with me, that thou wouldest go to thine own country?" And he said, "Nothing: howbeit, let me go." And God stirred up another adversary, one Rezon the son of Eliada, which fled from Hadadezer king of Zobah his master. Which Rezon gathered men unto him and became captain over the company, when David slew them. And they went to Damascus and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, with the evil that Hadad did, which abhorred Israel and reigned in Syria. And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah - whose mother was called Zeruah and was a widow and Solomon's servant - lifted up his hand against the king. And hereof came it, that he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built Mello and mended broken places in the city of David his father. And this fellow Jeroboam was an active man. And when Solomon saw the young man, that he wrought so lustily in the work, he made him ruler over all the charges of the house of Joseph. And it chanced, at that season, as Jeroboam was gone out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him by the way, having a new mantle on him, and they two alone in the field. And Ahijah caught the new mantle that was on him and rent it in twelve pieces, and said to Jeroboam, "Take thee ten pieces. For this sayeth the LORD God of Israel, 'Behold, I will rent the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee, and he shall have one, for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel: because they have forsaken me, and have bowed themselves unto Ashtaroth the God of the Sidonians, and to Chemosh the God of the Moabites and to Milcom the God of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that pleaseth me, and mine ordinances and customs, as David his father. Howbeit, I will take none of the kingdom out of his hand: but will make him chief all his life long, for David my servant's sake, which I chose: because he kept my commandments and ordinances. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give unto thee ten tribes of it: and will give his son one, that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me, to put my name there. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign upon all that thy soul desireth and shalt be king over Israel. And if thou shalt hearken unto all that I command thee, and shalt walk in my ways and do that is right in my sight, that thou keep mine ordinances and commandments as David my servant did: then will I be with thee and build thee a house that shall continue, as I built for my servant David, and will give Israel unto thee. And therewith will I vex the seed of David, but not forever.'" And Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam: wherefore Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt unto Shishak king of Egypt and continued there until the death of Solomon. And the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did, and his wisdom, are written in the book of the Acts of Solomon. And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem upon all Israel, was forty years. And then he laid him to rest with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
Month » Zif » May
In the fourth year of his reign was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, even in the month Ziv,
And it came to pass, the four hundred and fourscore year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and the fourth year of the reign of Solomon upon Israel, and the second month called Ziv, that he began to build the temple unto the LORD.
"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say, 'If any man among you or your children after you be unclean by the reason of a corpse or is in the way far off, then let him offer Passover unto the LORD: the fourteenth day of the second month at even, and eat it with sweet bread and sour herbs,
Months » Names of the twelve » Second, zif
In the fourth year of his reign was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, even in the month Ziv,
And it came to pass, the four hundred and fourscore year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and the fourth year of the reign of Solomon upon Israel, and the second month called Ziv, that he began to build the temple unto the LORD.
Temple » Solomon's » The time when begun
In the fourth year of his reign was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, even in the month Ziv,
And it came to pass, the four hundred and fourscore year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and the fourth year of the reign of Solomon upon Israel, and the second month called Ziv, that he began to build the temple unto the LORD.
And he began to build the second day of the second month, the fourth year of his reign.
The First Temple » Solomon » Commenced second day of second month of fourth year of solomon
In the fourth year of his reign was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, even in the month Ziv,
And it came to pass, the four hundred and fourscore year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and the fourth year of the reign of Solomon upon Israel, and the second month called Ziv, that he began to build the temple unto the LORD.
And he began to build the second day of the second month, the fourth year of his reign.