Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Ark of the covenant » Brought by solomon into the temple with great solemnity
And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel gathered themselves to the king in the feast in the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came. And the Levites took up the ark. read more.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought these up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were gathered to him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, to the Holy of Holies in the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread out their wings over the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark and its staves above. And they drew out the staves so that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle. But they were not seen outside. And there it is until this day.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought these up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were gathered to him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, to the Holy of Holies in the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread out their wings over the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark and its staves above. And they drew out the staves so that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle. But they were not seen outside. And there it is until this day.
And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel were gathered to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came in, and the priests took up the ark. read more.
And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels which were in the tabernacle; even those the priests and the Levites brought up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah into its place, into the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs.
And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels which were in the tabernacle; even those the priests and the Levites brought up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah into its place, into the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs.
Dedication » Subjects of » Temple of solomon
And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. And the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
Verse Concepts
And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel were gathered to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came in, and the priests took up the ark. read more.
And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels which were in the tabernacle; even those the priests and the Levites brought up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah into its place, into the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark. And the cherubs covered the ark and the staves of it above. And they drew out the staves, so that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place, in front of the Holy of Holies. And they were not seen outside. And there they are until today. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it happened when the priests had come out of the Holy of Holies, the cloud filled the house of Jehovah. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah. And Solomon said, Jehovah said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built a house of loftiness for You, a settled place for You to abide in forever. And the king turned his face around and blessed all the congregation of Israel. And all the congregation of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to David my father, and has fulfilled it by His hand, saying, From the day that I brought forth My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, so that My name might be in it. But I chose David to be over My people Israel. And it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And Jehovah said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house to My name, you did well that it was in your heart. Only, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall come out of your loins, he shall build the house to My name. And Jehovah has performed His Word which He spoke, and I have risen up instead of my father David. And I sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised. And I have built a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward the heavens. And he said, Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like You, in Heaven above or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, who have kept with Your servant David my father what You promised him. You also spoke with Your mouth, and have fulfilled with Your hand, as it is today. And now, Jehovah, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, what You promised him, saying, There shall not be cut off from you a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel-- if your sons take heed to their way so that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me. And now, O God of Israel, I pray You, let Your Word be proved to be true, the Word which You spoke to Your servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built? Yet, O, Jehovah my God, You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant and to his request, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; for Your eyes to be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive! If any man sins against his neighbor, and if an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and if the oath comes before Your altar in this house, then hear in Heaven, and do, and judge Your servants, to declare the wicked to be wicked, to bring his way on his head, and to declare the righteous to be righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. When Your people Israel are crushed before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and shall turn again to You and confess Your name, and pray, and cry to You in this house, then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them again into the land which You gave to their fathers. When the heavens are restrained, and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them, then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You shall teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance. If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blasting, mildew, locusts; if there are stripping locusts; if their enemy encircles them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness, any prayer, any supplication from any man of all Your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house, then hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know. For You, You only, know the hearts of all the sons of Adam. Do this so that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers. And concerning a stranger who is not of Your people Israel, but who comes out of a far country for Your name's sake; for they shall hear of Your great name and of Your strong hand and of Your stretched-out arm; and if he shall come and pray toward this house, hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as Your people Israel do, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name. If Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You shall send them, and shall pray to Jehovah toward the city which You have chosen, and the house that I have built for Your name, then hear in Heaven their prayer and their cry, and maintain their cause. If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin), and if You are angry with them, and have delivered them up before the enemy, and they have been led away captive to the land of the enemy, far or near, yet if they shall think within themselves in the land where they are carried captives, and repent, and pray to You in the land of their captors saying, We have sinned and have done perversely, we have done wickedly, and so return to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and if they pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, to the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name, then hear their prayer and their cry in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, even all their sins which they have done against You, and give them pity before their captors, so that they may have pity on them. For they are Your people, and Your inheritance, which You brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the furnace of iron, for Your eyes shall be open to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all that they call for to You. For You have separated them from among all the people of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah. And it happened as Solomon finished praying all this prayer and petition to Jehovah, he rose from before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be Jehovah, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant. May Jehovah our God be with us as He was with our fathers. Let Him not leave us nor forsake us, to incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments which He commanded our fathers. And let these my words, with which I have prayed before Jehovah, be near Jehovah our God day and night, so that He may maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel of each day in its day, for all the people of the earth know that Jehovah is God; there is no other. And let your heart be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Jehovah. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Jehovah, twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah.
And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels which were in the tabernacle; even those the priests and the Levites brought up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah into its place, into the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark. And the cherubs covered the ark and the staves of it above. And they drew out the staves, so that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place, in front of the Holy of Holies. And they were not seen outside. And there they are until today. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it happened when the priests had come out of the Holy of Holies, the cloud filled the house of Jehovah. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah. And Solomon said, Jehovah said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built a house of loftiness for You, a settled place for You to abide in forever. And the king turned his face around and blessed all the congregation of Israel. And all the congregation of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to David my father, and has fulfilled it by His hand, saying, From the day that I brought forth My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, so that My name might be in it. But I chose David to be over My people Israel. And it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And Jehovah said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house to My name, you did well that it was in your heart. Only, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall come out of your loins, he shall build the house to My name. And Jehovah has performed His Word which He spoke, and I have risen up instead of my father David. And I sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised. And I have built a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward the heavens. And he said, Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like You, in Heaven above or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, who have kept with Your servant David my father what You promised him. You also spoke with Your mouth, and have fulfilled with Your hand, as it is today. And now, Jehovah, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, what You promised him, saying, There shall not be cut off from you a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel-- if your sons take heed to their way so that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me. And now, O God of Israel, I pray You, let Your Word be proved to be true, the Word which You spoke to Your servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built? Yet, O, Jehovah my God, You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant and to his request, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; for Your eyes to be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive! If any man sins against his neighbor, and if an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and if the oath comes before Your altar in this house, then hear in Heaven, and do, and judge Your servants, to declare the wicked to be wicked, to bring his way on his head, and to declare the righteous to be righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. When Your people Israel are crushed before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and shall turn again to You and confess Your name, and pray, and cry to You in this house, then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them again into the land which You gave to their fathers. When the heavens are restrained, and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them, then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You shall teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance. If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blasting, mildew, locusts; if there are stripping locusts; if their enemy encircles them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness, any prayer, any supplication from any man of all Your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house, then hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know. For You, You only, know the hearts of all the sons of Adam. Do this so that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers. And concerning a stranger who is not of Your people Israel, but who comes out of a far country for Your name's sake; for they shall hear of Your great name and of Your strong hand and of Your stretched-out arm; and if he shall come and pray toward this house, hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as Your people Israel do, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name. If Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You shall send them, and shall pray to Jehovah toward the city which You have chosen, and the house that I have built for Your name, then hear in Heaven their prayer and their cry, and maintain their cause. If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin), and if You are angry with them, and have delivered them up before the enemy, and they have been led away captive to the land of the enemy, far or near, yet if they shall think within themselves in the land where they are carried captives, and repent, and pray to You in the land of their captors saying, We have sinned and have done perversely, we have done wickedly, and so return to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and if they pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, to the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name, then hear their prayer and their cry in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, even all their sins which they have done against You, and give them pity before their captors, so that they may have pity on them. For they are Your people, and Your inheritance, which You brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the furnace of iron, for Your eyes shall be open to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all that they call for to You. For You have separated them from among all the people of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah. And it happened as Solomon finished praying all this prayer and petition to Jehovah, he rose from before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be Jehovah, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant. May Jehovah our God be with us as He was with our fathers. Let Him not leave us nor forsake us, to incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments which He commanded our fathers. And let these my words, with which I have prayed before Jehovah, be near Jehovah our God day and night, so that He may maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel of each day in its day, for all the people of the earth know that Jehovah is God; there is no other. And let your heart be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Jehovah. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Jehovah, twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah.
Government » Mosaic » Assists solomon at the dedication of the temple
And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel were gathered to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came in, and the priests took up the ark.
And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel gathered themselves to the king in the feast in the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came. And the Levites took up the ark.
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 the ram's horn, and all the people said, Let King Solomon live! And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth was torn with their sound. And Adonijah heard, and all the invited guests with him. And they stopped eating. And Joab heard the sound of the ram's horn, and said, What is this noise roaring from the city? read more.
And he was still speaking, and behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said to him, Come in, for you are a mighty man and you bring good news. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Truly our lord King David has made Solomon king. And the king has 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 caused him to ride upon the king's mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. And they have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city is roaring. This is the noise that you heard. And also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom. And also the king's servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also the king said, Blessed is Jehovah, the God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne today, my eyes even seeing it. And all those who were invited by Adonijah trembled and arose and left, each to his way. And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told to Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon. For, lo, he has caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword. And Solomon said, If he becomes a son of virtue, not a hair of his head shall fall to the earth. But if wickedness shall be found in him, then he shall die. And King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, Go to your house. And the days of David drew near for him to die. And he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth. And you be strong and show yourself a man. And keep the charge of Jehovah your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn yourself, that Jehovah may continue His Word which He spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul saying, there shall not be a man of yours cut off from the throne of Israel. And also you know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, that he murdered them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle on his loins, and in his shoes on his feet. And you shall do according to your wisdom and shall not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at your table. For so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom your brother. And, behold, with you is Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by Jehovah, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. And now, do not hold him guiltless. For you are a wise man, and you know what you ought to do to him. But bring his gray head down to the grave with blood. And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father. And his kingdom was firmly established. And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come peacefully? And he said, Peace. And he said, I have a word to say to you. And she said, Speak. And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me that I should reign. However, the kingdom is turned around, and has become my brother's. For it was his from Jehovah. And now I ask one favor of you; do not turn away your face. And she said to him, Speak. And he said, Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not turn away your face, that he give me Abishag the Shunammite for my wife. And Bathsheba said, Very well; I will speak for you to the king. And Bathsheba came in to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother. And she sat on his right hand. And she said, I desire one small favor of you. Do not turn away my face. And the king said to her, Ask on, my mother, for I will not turn away your face. And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah for a wife. And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask the kingdom also for him. For he is my older brother! Even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah! And King Solomon swore by Jehovah, saying, May God do so to me, and more He shall do, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his life. And now, as Jehovah lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as He spoke, Adonijah shall be put to death today. And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And he fell on him so that he died. And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Go to Anathoth, to your fields, for you are worthy of death. But I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because you have been afflicted in all that in which my father was afflicted. And Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Jehovah, so that he might fulfil the Word of Jehovah which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. And the report came to Joab. For Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he did not turn after Absalom. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of Jehovah, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of Jehovah, and, behold, he is by the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go fall on him. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of Jehovah, and said to him, So says the king, come forth! And he said, No, but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and so he answered me. And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him, so that you may take away the innocent blood which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father. And Jehovah shall return his blood on his own head, who fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David not knowing of it, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. Yea, He shall turn back their blood on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever. But on David, and on his seed, and on his house, and on his throne, there shall be peace forever from Jehovah. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him and killed him. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place. And the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build a house at Jerusalem and live there, and do not go forth from there anywhere. For it shall be, on the day you go out and pass over the torrent Kidron, you shall know for certain that you shall surely die. Your blood shall be on your own head. And Shimei said to the king, Your saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. And Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. And it happened at the end of three years, two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath. And Shimei arose and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again. And the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, Did I not make you swear by Jehovah, and warn you, saying, In the day you go out, and you have gone anywhere, you certainly shall know that you shall surely die? And you said to me, The word I have heard is good. Why then have you not kept the oath of Jehovah and the command that I have charged you with? And the king said to Shimei, You know all the wickedness that your heart knows, what you did to David my father. And Jehovah shall return your wickedness on your own head. And King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Jehovah forever. And the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell on him so that he died. And the kingdom was made sure in the hand of Solomon. And Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he finished building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall around Jerusalem. Only the people sacrificed in high places because there was no house built to the name of Jehovah until those days. And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of David his father. Only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there. For that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, Ask what I shall give you! And Solomon said, You have shown to Your servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before You in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with You. And You have kept this great kindness for him, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. And now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king instead of David my father. And I am a little child; I do not know to go out or come in! And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a numerous people who cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. And give to Your servant an understanding heart, to judge Your people, to discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this, Your great people? And the word was good in the eyes of Jehovah, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said to him, Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, and have not asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to judge justly, behold, I have done according to your words. Lo, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like you before you, and after you none shall arise like you. And I also have given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you all your days. And if you will walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. And Solomon awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Then there came two women, harlots, to the king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, this woman and I live in one house. And I bore a child with her in the house. And it happened the third day after I gave birth, this woman bore a child also. And we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. And this woman's child died in the night, because she laid on it. And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant was sleeping, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. When I arose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead. And when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son whom I bore. And the other woman said, No, but the living is my son, and the dead is your son. And this one said, No, but the dead is your son, and the living is my son. So they spoke before the king. And the king said, The one says, This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead. And the other says, No, but your son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other. And the woman whose son was the living child said to the king, for her womb yearned over her son. And she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor yours; divide it! And the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no way kill it. She is the mother of it. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged. And they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment. And King Solomon was king over all Israel. And these were the rulers which he had: Azariah the son of Zadok the priest, Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha were the scribes. Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud the recorder, And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army. And Zadok and Abiathar were priests. And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers, and Zabud the son of Nathan was the minister and the king's friend. And Ahishar was over the household. And Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor. And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had his month in a year to provide food. These are their names: the son of Hur in Mount Ephraim; the son of Dekar in Makaz and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; the son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him was Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; the son of Abinadab in all the height of Dor, Taphath the daughter of Solomon was a wife to him; Baana the son of Ahilud to whom was Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah to the place that is beyond Jokneam; the son of Geber in Ramoth-gilead; to him were the towns of Jair, Manasseh's son, which are in Gilead; to him was the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars; Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim; Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon for a wife; Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth; Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah was in Issachar; Shimei the son of Elah was in Benjamin; Geber the son of Uri was in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer in the land; Judah and Israel were many, as the sand by the sea in multitude; eating and drinking and making merry. And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. They brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life. And Solomon's food for one day was thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of meal, ten fat oxen and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fattened fowl. For he had the rule over all on this side of the River, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the River. And he had peace on all sides all around him. And Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And those officers provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon's table, every man in his month. They did not lack anything. They also brought barley and straw for the horses and mules, to the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge. And God gave Solomon exceeding great wisdom and understanding, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame was in all nations all around. And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish. And there came from all the people, to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king instead of his father. For Hiram was always a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, You know how David my father could not build a house to the name of Jehovah his God because of the wars which were around him on every side, until Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet. But now Jehovah my God has given me rest all around. There is no foe nor evil happening. And behold, I purpose to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spoke to David my father, saying, Your son whom I will set on your throne in your place; he shall build a house to My name. And now command that they cut me cedar trees out of Lebanon, and my servants shall be with your servants. And I will give you hire for your servants according to all that you shall say. For you know that not a man among us can cut timber like the Sidonians. And it happened when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who has given David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram sent to Solomon saying, I have heard that for which you sent to me. I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. And I will bring them by sea in floats to the place that you shall name. And I will cause them to be left there, and you shall receive them. And you shall fulfill my desire in giving food for my household. And Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees, all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food for his household, and twenty measures of pure oil. So Solomon gave to Hiram year by year. And Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom, as He promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon. And the two of them made a treaty together. And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel. And the labor force was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by courses. They were a month in Lebanon, and two months at home. And Adoniram was over the labor force. And Solomon had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand woodcutters in the mountains, besides the chief of Solomon's overseers who were over the work, thirty-three hundred, who ruled over the people who labored in the work. And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, cut stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Giblites cut out and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house. And it happened in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, he began to build the house of Jehovah. And the house which King Solomon built for Jehovah, its length was sixty cubits and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house was twenty cubits in length, according to the breadth of the house. Ten cubits was its breadth on the front of the house. And for the house he made windows of narrow frames. And against the wall of the house he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, of the temple and of the sanctuary. And he made rooms all around. The lowest story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made narrowed ledges for the house all around, so as not to lay hold of the walls of the house. And when it was being built, the house was built of stone made ready beforehand. And there was not heard in the house a hammer or an axe, or any iron tool, while it was being built. The door for the middle story was in the right side of the house. And they went up with winding stairs into the middle story, and out of the middle into the third. And he built the house and finished it. And he covered the house with beams and rows of cedar. And he built the side-stories on all the house, five cubits high. And they rested on the house with timbers of cedar. And the Word of Jehovah came to Solomon saying, As to this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and do My judgments and keep all My commandments, to walk in them, then I will perform My work with you which I spoke to David your father. And I will live among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel. And Solomon built the house and finished it. And he built the walls of the house inside with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house and the walls of the ceiling. He covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar. He even built them for it inside, for the sanctuary, for the Holy of Holies. And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits. And the cedar of the house inside was carved with gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone seen. And he prepared the Holy of Holies in the house inside, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. And the Holy of Holies in the front part was twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he overlaid it with pure gold, and covered the altar of cedar. And Solomon overlaid the house inside with pure gold. And he drew chains of gold across before the Holy of Holies. And he overlaid it with gold. And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until he had finished all the house. Also all of the altar that belonged to the Holy of Holies, he overlaid with gold: And inside the Holy of Holies he made two cherubs of olive wood, ten cubits high. And one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was five cubits; ten cubits from the ends of its wings even to the ends of its wings. And the other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubs were of one measure and one size. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. And he set the cherubs inside the inner house. And they stretched forth the wings of the cherubs so that the wing of the one touched the one wall and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. And he overlaid the cherubs with gold. And he carved all the walls of the house all around with carved figures of cherubs and palm trees and open flowers, inside and out. And the floor of the house was overlaid with gold inside and out. As to the entrance of the holy place he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and side posts were a fifth part, and the two doors were of olive wood. And he carved on them carvings of cherubs and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubs and on the palm trees. So also he made side posts for the entrance of the temple from the olive tree, a fourth part. And the two doors were of fir tree. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. And he carved on them cherubs and palm trees and open bowers. And he covered them with gold fitted on the carved work. And he built the inner court with three rows of cut stone, and a row of cedar beams. In the fourth year, in the month Zif, the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished as to all its parts, and as to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it. And Solomon was thirteen years building his own house. And he finished all his house. And he built the house of the forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. And it was covered with cedar above on the beams that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row. And windows were in three rows, and light was against light in three rows. And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows. And the front of a window was against a window in three rows. And he made a porch of pillars. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. And the porch was before them, and the pillars and the roof were over them. And he made a porch of the throne where he judged, the porch of judgment. And it was covered with cedar from floor to floor. As to his house where he lived, the other court was within the porch, as this work was. Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken, like this porch. All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewn stones, sawed with saws, inside and out, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. And above were costly stones, according to the measures of hewn stone and cedar. And the great court all around was with three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and for the porch of the house. And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was filled with wisdom and understanding, and cunning to work all works in bronze. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work. For he cast two pillars of bronze, eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar. And a line of twelve cubits went around the second pillar. And he made two capitals of melted bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital five cubits. He made gratings, grating work with twisted threads of chain-work, for the capitals on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. And he made the pillars. And two rows were all around on the one grating, to cover the capitals on the top with the pomegranates. And so he did for the other capital. And the capitals on the top of the pillars in the porch were lily-work, four cubits. And the capitals on the two pillars had pomegranates on the upper part, over against the belly which was by the grating; and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows all around on the other capital. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple. And he set up the right pillar and called its name, Jachin. And he set up the left pillar, and called its name, Boaz. And on the top of the pillars was lily-work. So the work of the pillars was finished. And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from brim to brim, all around it. And its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits went around it. And under its brim were gourds, going around it, ten by the cubit, going all around the sea. The gourds were cast in two rows when it was cast. It stood on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east. The sea was set on top of them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And it was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, with a bud of a lily. It contained two thousand baths. And he made ten bases of bronze, four cubits the length of the one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height. And the work of the bases was this way: they had borders, and the borders were between the stays. And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubs. And a pedestal was on the stays above. And beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging-work. And the one base had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze. And its four feet were supports to them; under the basin were casted supports with wreaths at each side. And its mouth within and above the capital was a cubit. And its mouth was round like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and half of the cubit. And also on its mouth were carvings; and their borders were square, not round. And under the borders were four wheels. And the axletrees of the wheels were in the base. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel, their axletrees, and their rims, and their hub, and their spokes, were all cast. And there were four supports to the four corners of one base, and the supports were of the very base itself. And in the top of the base was a round compass of a half a cubit high. And on the top of the base its sides and its borders were from it. And he engraved cherubs, lions, and palm trees on the plates of its sides, and on its borders, as the place of each, with wreaths all around. So he made the ten bases, one casting, one measure, one form was to them all. And he made ten basins of bronze. One basin contained forty baths. The one basin was four cubits, one basin on the one base, to the ten bases. And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. And he set the sea on the right side of the house, eastward, across from the south. And Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he did for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah. Two pillars, and the bowls of the capitals on the top of the two pillars, and the two gratings to cover the two bowls of the capitals on the top of the pillars, and the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings; two rows of pomegranates for each grating, to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the face of the pillars, and the ten bases, and ten basins on the bases, and one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea, and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. All these vessels which Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah were of burnished bronze. The king cast them in the plain of Jordan, in the thick soil of the ground between Succoth and Zarethan. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed because they were exceeding many; the weight of the bronze was not searched out. And Solomon made all the vessels in the house of Jehovah: the altar of gold, and the table of gold on which was the Bread of the Presence; and the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies, with the flowers and the lamps and the tongs of gold, and the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire-pans of pure gold, and the hinges of gold for the doors of the inner house, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the house, the temple. So all the work that King Solomon made for the house of Jehovah was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated: the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, he had put into the treasuries of the house of Jehovah. And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel were gathered to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came in, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels which were in the tabernacle; even those the priests and the Levites brought up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah into its place, into the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark. And the cherubs covered the ark and the staves of it above. And they drew out the staves, so that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place, in front of the Holy of Holies. And they were not seen outside. And there they are until today. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it happened when the priests had come out of the Holy of Holies, the cloud filled the house of Jehovah. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah. And Solomon said, Jehovah said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built a house of loftiness for You, a settled place for You to abide in forever. And the king turned his face around and blessed all the congregation of Israel. And all the congregation of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to David my father, and has fulfilled it by His hand, saying, From the day that I brought forth My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, so that My name might be in it. But I chose David to be over My people Israel. And it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And Jehovah said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house to My name, you did well that it was in your heart. Only, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall come out of your loins, he shall build the house to My name. And Jehovah has performed His Word which He spoke, and I have risen up instead of my father David. And I sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised. And I have built a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward the heavens. And he said, Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like You, in Heaven above or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, who have kept with Your servant David my father what You promised him. You also spoke with Your mouth, and have fulfilled with Your hand, as it is today. And now, Jehovah, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, what You promised him, saying, There shall not be cut off from you a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel-- if your sons take heed to their way so that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me. And now, O God of Israel, I pray You, let Your Word be proved to be true, the Word which You spoke to Your servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built? Yet, O, Jehovah my God, You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant and to his request, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; for Your eyes to be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive! If any man sins against his neighbor, and if an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and if the oath comes before Your altar in this house, then hear in Heaven, and do, and judge Your servants, to declare the wicked to be wicked, to bring his way on his head, and to declare the righteous to be righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. When Your people Israel are crushed before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and shall turn again to You and confess Your name, and pray, and cry to You in this house, then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them again into the land which You gave to their fathers. When the heavens are restrained, and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them, then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You shall teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance. If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blasting, mildew, locusts; if there are stripping locusts; if their enemy encircles them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness, any prayer, any supplication from any man of all Your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house, then hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know. For You, You only, know the hearts of all the sons of Adam. Do this so that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers. And concerning a stranger who is not of Your people Israel, but who comes out of a far country for Your name's sake; for they shall hear of Your great name and of Your strong hand and of Your stretched-out arm; and if he shall come and pray toward this house, hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as Your people Israel do, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name. If Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You shall send them, and shall pray to Jehovah toward the city which You have chosen, and the house that I have built for Your name, then hear in Heaven their prayer and their cry, and maintain their cause. If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin), and if You are angry with them, and have delivered them up before the enemy, and they have been led away captive to the land of the enemy, far or near, yet if they shall think within themselves in the land where they are carried captives, and repent, and pray to You in the land of their captors saying, We have sinned and have done perversely, we have done wickedly, and so return to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and if they pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, to the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name, then hear their prayer and their cry in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, even all their sins which they have done against You, and give them pity before their captors, so that they may have pity on them. For they are Your people, and Your inheritance, which You brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the furnace of iron, for Your eyes shall be open to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all that they call for to You. For You have separated them from among all the people of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah. And it happened as Solomon finished praying all this prayer and petition to Jehovah, he rose from before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be Jehovah, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant. May Jehovah our God be with us as He was with our fathers. Let Him not leave us nor forsake us, to incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments which He commanded our fathers. And let these my words, with which I have prayed before Jehovah, be near Jehovah our God day and night, so that He may maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel of each day in its day, for all the people of the earth know that Jehovah is God; there is no other. And let your heart be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Jehovah. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Jehovah, twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah. On that day the king sanctified the middle of the court before the house of Jehovah. For there he had offered the burnt offering, and the food offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; because the bronze altar before Jehovah was too small to contain the burnt offering, and the food offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt, before Jehovah our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away. And they blessed the king and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that Jehovah had done for David His servant, and for Israel His people. And it happened as Solomon finished the building of the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, Jehovah appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. And Jehovah said to him, I have heard your prayer and your cry which you have made before Me. I have made this house which you have built holy, to put My name there forever. And My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. And if you will walk before Me as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you; and if you will keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom on Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not be cut off to you a man on the throne of Israel. If you shall at all turn from following Me, you or your sons, and will not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the face of the land which I have given them. And this house which I have made holy for My name I will cast out of My sight. And Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people. As to this house which is exalted, everyone who passes by it shall be amazed and shall hiss. And they shall say, Why has Jehovah done this to this land and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they left Jehovah their God who brought out their fathers from the land of Egypt, and have taken hold on other gods and have worshiped them and served them. On account of this Jehovah has brought on them all this evil. And it happened at the end of twenty years, Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king's house. Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desires. Then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him. And they did not please him. And he said, What cities are these which you have given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day. And Hiram sent to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold. And this is the reason of the labor force which King Solomon raised to build the house of Jehovah and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and had taken Gezer and had burned it with fire, and had slain the Canaanites who lived in the city. And he had given it for a present to his daughter, Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the lower, and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land. And he built all the store-cities which Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. And all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel also were not able to destroy completely, on those Solomon laid a tribute of bond-service to this day. But Solomon did not make any slave out of the sons of Israel. But they were men of war, and his servants, and his rulers, and his commanders, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen. These were the chief of the officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty who ruled over the people who labored in the work. But Pharaoh's daughter came up from the city of David to her house which had been built for her. And he built Millo. And three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense on the altar which was before Jehovah. And he finished the house. And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and brought gold from there, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon. And the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame concerning the name of Jehovah, and she came to test him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon, and she told him all that was in her heart. And Solomon answered all her questions for her. There was not a thing hidden from the king, which he did not tell her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house which he had built, and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, and his cupbearers, and his burnt offering that he offered up to the house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom. And I did not believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen. And behold! The half was not told me. Your wisdom and blessings are more than the fame which I heard. Happy are your men, happy are these who are your servants, who stand always before you, and who hear your wisdom. Blessed is Jehovah your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because Jehovah loved Israel forever; therefore, He made you king to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a very great store of spices, and precious stones. No spice like that came any more for abundance, that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. And also the navy of Hiram which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great abundance of almug trees and precious stones. And the king made of the almug trees a support for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, also lyres and harps for singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day. And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. And the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, apart from the merchant men, and and from the traffic of the traders, and from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the lands. And King Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into one target. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round in the back part. And there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays; and two lions were standing on the six steps, on this and on that side. There was not the like made in any kingdom. And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was counted nothing in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram. Once in three years the navy of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth sought Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. And every man brought his presents, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing and armor, and spices, horses and mules, so much year by year. And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had fourteen hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver like stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars like the sycamore trees in the valley for abundance. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and out of Kue. The king's merchants received them from Kue at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, they brought them out by their means. And King Solomon loved many foreign women, even the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hittites; of the nations which Jehovah had said to the sons of Israel, You shall not go in to them, and they shall not go in to you; surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For it happened when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods. And his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites; and Solomon did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and did not go fully after Jehovah like his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill which is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the sons of Ammon. And likewise he did for all his foreign wives, and burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. And Jehovah was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from Jehovah, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; and he did not keep that which Jehovah commanded. And Jehovah said to Solomon, Since this is done by you, and since you have not kept My covenant and My statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. But I will not do it in your days, for David your father's sake, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Only, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for David My servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen. And it happened Jehovah stirred up a foe to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the king's seed in Edom. For it happened when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had stricken every male in Edom-- for Joab remained there six months with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom-- it happened that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go to Egypt, Hadad being still a little child. And they arose out of Midian and came to Paran. And they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and appointed food for him, and gave him land. And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him the sister of his own wife for a wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh. And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, even Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart so that I may go to my own land. And Pharaoh said to him, But what have you lacked with me that, behold, you seek to go to your land? And he answered, Nothing; however, you shall certainly send me away. And God stirred up another foe, to him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. And he gathered men to him, and became head over a band when David killed them. And they went to Damascus and lived in it, and reigned in Damascus. And he was a foe to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the mischief which Hadad did. And he hated Israel and reigned over Syria. And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, he too lifted up his hand against the king. And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built Millo and repaired the breaks of the city of David his father. And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of war. And Solomon, seeing that the young man was doing work, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. And it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh found him in the way. And he had clothed himself with a new garment. And the two of them were alone in the field. And Ahijah caught hold of the new robe on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, Take ten pieces for yourself. For so says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you, but he shall have one tribe for My servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the goddess of the sons of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways, to do what is right in My eyes, and to keep My statutes and My judgments, as David his father did. But I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David My servant, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it to you, ten tribes. And to his son I will give one tribe, so that David My servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Me, to put My name there. And I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, it shall happen that I will be with you and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. And for this I will afflict the seed of David, but not forever. And Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel were forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam reigned in his place.
And he was still speaking, and behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said to him, Come in, for you are a mighty man and you bring good news. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Truly our lord King David has made Solomon king. And the king has 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 caused him to ride upon the king's mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. And they have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city is roaring. This is the noise that you heard. And also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom. And also the king's servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also the king said, Blessed is Jehovah, the God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne today, my eyes even seeing it. And all those who were invited by Adonijah trembled and arose and left, each to his way. And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told to Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon. For, lo, he has caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword. And Solomon said, If he becomes a son of virtue, not a hair of his head shall fall to the earth. But if wickedness shall be found in him, then he shall die. And King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, Go to your house. And the days of David drew near for him to die. And he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth. And you be strong and show yourself a man. And keep the charge of Jehovah your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn yourself, that Jehovah may continue His Word which He spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul saying, there shall not be a man of yours cut off from the throne of Israel. And also you know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, that he murdered them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle on his loins, and in his shoes on his feet. And you shall do according to your wisdom and shall not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at your table. For so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom your brother. And, behold, with you is Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by Jehovah, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. And now, do not hold him guiltless. For you are a wise man, and you know what you ought to do to him. But bring his gray head down to the grave with blood. And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father. And his kingdom was firmly established. And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come peacefully? And he said, Peace. And he said, I have a word to say to you. And she said, Speak. And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me that I should reign. However, the kingdom is turned around, and has become my brother's. For it was his from Jehovah. And now I ask one favor of you; do not turn away your face. And she said to him, Speak. And he said, Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not turn away your face, that he give me Abishag the Shunammite for my wife. And Bathsheba said, Very well; I will speak for you to the king. And Bathsheba came in to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother. And she sat on his right hand. And she said, I desire one small favor of you. Do not turn away my face. And the king said to her, Ask on, my mother, for I will not turn away your face. And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah for a wife. And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask the kingdom also for him. For he is my older brother! Even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah! And King Solomon swore by Jehovah, saying, May God do so to me, and more He shall do, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his life. And now, as Jehovah lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as He spoke, Adonijah shall be put to death today. And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And he fell on him so that he died. And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Go to Anathoth, to your fields, for you are worthy of death. But I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because you have been afflicted in all that in which my father was afflicted. And Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Jehovah, so that he might fulfil the Word of Jehovah which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. And the report came to Joab. For Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he did not turn after Absalom. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of Jehovah, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of Jehovah, and, behold, he is by the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go fall on him. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of Jehovah, and said to him, So says the king, come forth! And he said, No, but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and so he answered me. And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him, so that you may take away the innocent blood which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father. And Jehovah shall return his blood on his own head, who fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David not knowing of it, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. Yea, He shall turn back their blood on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever. But on David, and on his seed, and on his house, and on his throne, there shall be peace forever from Jehovah. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him and killed him. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place. And the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build a house at Jerusalem and live there, and do not go forth from there anywhere. For it shall be, on the day you go out and pass over the torrent Kidron, you shall know for certain that you shall surely die. Your blood shall be on your own head. And Shimei said to the king, Your saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. And Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. And it happened at the end of three years, two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath. And Shimei arose and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again. And the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, Did I not make you swear by Jehovah, and warn you, saying, In the day you go out, and you have gone anywhere, you certainly shall know that you shall surely die? And you said to me, The word I have heard is good. Why then have you not kept the oath of Jehovah and the command that I have charged you with? And the king said to Shimei, You know all the wickedness that your heart knows, what you did to David my father. And Jehovah shall return your wickedness on your own head. And King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Jehovah forever. And the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell on him so that he died. And the kingdom was made sure in the hand of Solomon. And Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he finished building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall around Jerusalem. Only the people sacrificed in high places because there was no house built to the name of Jehovah until those days. And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of David his father. Only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there. For that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, Ask what I shall give you! And Solomon said, You have shown to Your servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before You in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with You. And You have kept this great kindness for him, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. And now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king instead of David my father. And I am a little child; I do not know to go out or come in! And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a numerous people who cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. And give to Your servant an understanding heart, to judge Your people, to discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this, Your great people? And the word was good in the eyes of Jehovah, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said to him, Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, and have not asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to judge justly, behold, I have done according to your words. Lo, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like you before you, and after you none shall arise like you. And I also have given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you all your days. And if you will walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. And Solomon awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Then there came two women, harlots, to the king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, this woman and I live in one house. And I bore a child with her in the house. And it happened the third day after I gave birth, this woman bore a child also. And we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. And this woman's child died in the night, because she laid on it. And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant was sleeping, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. When I arose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead. And when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son whom I bore. And the other woman said, No, but the living is my son, and the dead is your son. And this one said, No, but the dead is your son, and the living is my son. So they spoke before the king. And the king said, The one says, This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead. And the other says, No, but your son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other. And the woman whose son was the living child said to the king, for her womb yearned over her son. And she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor yours; divide it! And the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no way kill it. She is the mother of it. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged. And they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment. And King Solomon was king over all Israel. And these were the rulers which he had: Azariah the son of Zadok the priest, Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha were the scribes. Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud the recorder, And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army. And Zadok and Abiathar were priests. And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers, and Zabud the son of Nathan was the minister and the king's friend. And Ahishar was over the household. And Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor. And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had his month in a year to provide food. These are their names: the son of Hur in Mount Ephraim; the son of Dekar in Makaz and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; the son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him was Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; the son of Abinadab in all the height of Dor, Taphath the daughter of Solomon was a wife to him; Baana the son of Ahilud to whom was Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah to the place that is beyond Jokneam; the son of Geber in Ramoth-gilead; to him were the towns of Jair, Manasseh's son, which are in Gilead; to him was the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars; Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim; Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon for a wife; Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth; Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah was in Issachar; Shimei the son of Elah was in Benjamin; Geber the son of Uri was in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer in the land; Judah and Israel were many, as the sand by the sea in multitude; eating and drinking and making merry. And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. They brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life. And Solomon's food for one day was thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of meal, ten fat oxen and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fattened fowl. For he had the rule over all on this side of the River, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the River. And he had peace on all sides all around him. And Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And those officers provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon's table, every man in his month. They did not lack anything. They also brought barley and straw for the horses and mules, to the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge. And God gave Solomon exceeding great wisdom and understanding, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame was in all nations all around. And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish. And there came from all the people, to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king instead of his father. For Hiram was always a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, You know how David my father could not build a house to the name of Jehovah his God because of the wars which were around him on every side, until Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet. But now Jehovah my God has given me rest all around. There is no foe nor evil happening. And behold, I purpose to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spoke to David my father, saying, Your son whom I will set on your throne in your place; he shall build a house to My name. And now command that they cut me cedar trees out of Lebanon, and my servants shall be with your servants. And I will give you hire for your servants according to all that you shall say. For you know that not a man among us can cut timber like the Sidonians. And it happened when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who has given David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram sent to Solomon saying, I have heard that for which you sent to me. I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. And I will bring them by sea in floats to the place that you shall name. And I will cause them to be left there, and you shall receive them. And you shall fulfill my desire in giving food for my household. And Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees, all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food for his household, and twenty measures of pure oil. So Solomon gave to Hiram year by year. And Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom, as He promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon. And the two of them made a treaty together. And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel. And the labor force was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by courses. They were a month in Lebanon, and two months at home. And Adoniram was over the labor force. And Solomon had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand woodcutters in the mountains, besides the chief of Solomon's overseers who were over the work, thirty-three hundred, who ruled over the people who labored in the work. And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, cut stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Giblites cut out and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house. And it happened in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, he began to build the house of Jehovah. And the house which King Solomon built for Jehovah, its length was sixty cubits and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house was twenty cubits in length, according to the breadth of the house. Ten cubits was its breadth on the front of the house. And for the house he made windows of narrow frames. And against the wall of the house he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, of the temple and of the sanctuary. And he made rooms all around. The lowest story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made narrowed ledges for the house all around, so as not to lay hold of the walls of the house. And when it was being built, the house was built of stone made ready beforehand. And there was not heard in the house a hammer or an axe, or any iron tool, while it was being built. The door for the middle story was in the right side of the house. And they went up with winding stairs into the middle story, and out of the middle into the third. And he built the house and finished it. And he covered the house with beams and rows of cedar. And he built the side-stories on all the house, five cubits high. And they rested on the house with timbers of cedar. And the Word of Jehovah came to Solomon saying, As to this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and do My judgments and keep all My commandments, to walk in them, then I will perform My work with you which I spoke to David your father. And I will live among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel. And Solomon built the house and finished it. And he built the walls of the house inside with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house and the walls of the ceiling. He covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar. He even built them for it inside, for the sanctuary, for the Holy of Holies. And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits. And the cedar of the house inside was carved with gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone seen. And he prepared the Holy of Holies in the house inside, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. And the Holy of Holies in the front part was twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he overlaid it with pure gold, and covered the altar of cedar. And Solomon overlaid the house inside with pure gold. And he drew chains of gold across before the Holy of Holies. And he overlaid it with gold. And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until he had finished all the house. Also all of the altar that belonged to the Holy of Holies, he overlaid with gold: And inside the Holy of Holies he made two cherubs of olive wood, ten cubits high. And one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was five cubits; ten cubits from the ends of its wings even to the ends of its wings. And the other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubs were of one measure and one size. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. And he set the cherubs inside the inner house. And they stretched forth the wings of the cherubs so that the wing of the one touched the one wall and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. And he overlaid the cherubs with gold. And he carved all the walls of the house all around with carved figures of cherubs and palm trees and open flowers, inside and out. And the floor of the house was overlaid with gold inside and out. As to the entrance of the holy place he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and side posts were a fifth part, and the two doors were of olive wood. And he carved on them carvings of cherubs and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubs and on the palm trees. So also he made side posts for the entrance of the temple from the olive tree, a fourth part. And the two doors were of fir tree. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. And he carved on them cherubs and palm trees and open bowers. And he covered them with gold fitted on the carved work. And he built the inner court with three rows of cut stone, and a row of cedar beams. In the fourth year, in the month Zif, the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished as to all its parts, and as to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it. And Solomon was thirteen years building his own house. And he finished all his house. And he built the house of the forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. And it was covered with cedar above on the beams that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row. And windows were in three rows, and light was against light in three rows. And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows. And the front of a window was against a window in three rows. And he made a porch of pillars. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. And the porch was before them, and the pillars and the roof were over them. And he made a porch of the throne where he judged, the porch of judgment. And it was covered with cedar from floor to floor. As to his house where he lived, the other court was within the porch, as this work was. Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken, like this porch. All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewn stones, sawed with saws, inside and out, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. And above were costly stones, according to the measures of hewn stone and cedar. And the great court all around was with three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and for the porch of the house. And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was filled with wisdom and understanding, and cunning to work all works in bronze. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work. For he cast two pillars of bronze, eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar. And a line of twelve cubits went around the second pillar. And he made two capitals of melted bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital five cubits. He made gratings, grating work with twisted threads of chain-work, for the capitals on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. And he made the pillars. And two rows were all around on the one grating, to cover the capitals on the top with the pomegranates. And so he did for the other capital. And the capitals on the top of the pillars in the porch were lily-work, four cubits. And the capitals on the two pillars had pomegranates on the upper part, over against the belly which was by the grating; and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows all around on the other capital. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple. And he set up the right pillar and called its name, Jachin. And he set up the left pillar, and called its name, Boaz. And on the top of the pillars was lily-work. So the work of the pillars was finished. And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from brim to brim, all around it. And its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits went around it. And under its brim were gourds, going around it, ten by the cubit, going all around the sea. The gourds were cast in two rows when it was cast. It stood on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east. The sea was set on top of them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And it was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, with a bud of a lily. It contained two thousand baths. And he made ten bases of bronze, four cubits the length of the one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height. And the work of the bases was this way: they had borders, and the borders were between the stays. And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubs. And a pedestal was on the stays above. And beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging-work. And the one base had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze. And its four feet were supports to them; under the basin were casted supports with wreaths at each side. And its mouth within and above the capital was a cubit. And its mouth was round like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and half of the cubit. And also on its mouth were carvings; and their borders were square, not round. And under the borders were four wheels. And the axletrees of the wheels were in the base. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel, their axletrees, and their rims, and their hub, and their spokes, were all cast. And there were four supports to the four corners of one base, and the supports were of the very base itself. And in the top of the base was a round compass of a half a cubit high. And on the top of the base its sides and its borders were from it. And he engraved cherubs, lions, and palm trees on the plates of its sides, and on its borders, as the place of each, with wreaths all around. So he made the ten bases, one casting, one measure, one form was to them all. And he made ten basins of bronze. One basin contained forty baths. The one basin was four cubits, one basin on the one base, to the ten bases. And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. And he set the sea on the right side of the house, eastward, across from the south. And Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he did for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah. Two pillars, and the bowls of the capitals on the top of the two pillars, and the two gratings to cover the two bowls of the capitals on the top of the pillars, and the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings; two rows of pomegranates for each grating, to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the face of the pillars, and the ten bases, and ten basins on the bases, and one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea, and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. All these vessels which Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah were of burnished bronze. The king cast them in the plain of Jordan, in the thick soil of the ground between Succoth and Zarethan. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed because they were exceeding many; the weight of the bronze was not searched out. And Solomon made all the vessels in the house of Jehovah: the altar of gold, and the table of gold on which was the Bread of the Presence; and the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies, with the flowers and the lamps and the tongs of gold, and the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire-pans of pure gold, and the hinges of gold for the doors of the inner house, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the house, the temple. So all the work that King Solomon made for the house of Jehovah was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated: the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, he had put into the treasuries of the house of Jehovah. And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel were gathered to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came in, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels which were in the tabernacle; even those the priests and the Levites brought up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah into its place, into the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark. And the cherubs covered the ark and the staves of it above. And they drew out the staves, so that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place, in front of the Holy of Holies. And they were not seen outside. And there they are until today. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it happened when the priests had come out of the Holy of Holies, the cloud filled the house of Jehovah. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah. And Solomon said, Jehovah said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built a house of loftiness for You, a settled place for You to abide in forever. And the king turned his face around and blessed all the congregation of Israel. And all the congregation of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to David my father, and has fulfilled it by His hand, saying, From the day that I brought forth My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, so that My name might be in it. But I chose David to be over My people Israel. And it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And Jehovah said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house to My name, you did well that it was in your heart. Only, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall come out of your loins, he shall build the house to My name. And Jehovah has performed His Word which He spoke, and I have risen up instead of my father David. And I sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised. And I have built a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward the heavens. And he said, Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like You, in Heaven above or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, who have kept with Your servant David my father what You promised him. You also spoke with Your mouth, and have fulfilled with Your hand, as it is today. And now, Jehovah, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, what You promised him, saying, There shall not be cut off from you a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel-- if your sons take heed to their way so that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me. And now, O God of Israel, I pray You, let Your Word be proved to be true, the Word which You spoke to Your servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built? Yet, O, Jehovah my God, You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant and to his request, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; for Your eyes to be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive! If any man sins against his neighbor, and if an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and if the oath comes before Your altar in this house, then hear in Heaven, and do, and judge Your servants, to declare the wicked to be wicked, to bring his way on his head, and to declare the righteous to be righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. When Your people Israel are crushed before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and shall turn again to You and confess Your name, and pray, and cry to You in this house, then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them again into the land which You gave to their fathers. When the heavens are restrained, and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them, then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You shall teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance. If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blasting, mildew, locusts; if there are stripping locusts; if their enemy encircles them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness, any prayer, any supplication from any man of all Your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house, then hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know. For You, You only, know the hearts of all the sons of Adam. Do this so that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers. And concerning a stranger who is not of Your people Israel, but who comes out of a far country for Your name's sake; for they shall hear of Your great name and of Your strong hand and of Your stretched-out arm; and if he shall come and pray toward this house, hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as Your people Israel do, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name. If Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You shall send them, and shall pray to Jehovah toward the city which You have chosen, and the house that I have built for Your name, then hear in Heaven their prayer and their cry, and maintain their cause. If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin), and if You are angry with them, and have delivered them up before the enemy, and they have been led away captive to the land of the enemy, far or near, yet if they shall think within themselves in the land where they are carried captives, and repent, and pray to You in the land of their captors saying, We have sinned and have done perversely, we have done wickedly, and so return to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and if they pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, to the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name, then hear their prayer and their cry in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, even all their sins which they have done against You, and give them pity before their captors, so that they may have pity on them. For they are Your people, and Your inheritance, which You brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the furnace of iron, for Your eyes shall be open to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all that they call for to You. For You have separated them from among all the people of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah. And it happened as Solomon finished praying all this prayer and petition to Jehovah, he rose from before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be Jehovah, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant. May Jehovah our God be with us as He was with our fathers. Let Him not leave us nor forsake us, to incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments which He commanded our fathers. And let these my words, with which I have prayed before Jehovah, be near Jehovah our God day and night, so that He may maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel of each day in its day, for all the people of the earth know that Jehovah is God; there is no other. And let your heart be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Jehovah. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Jehovah, twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah. On that day the king sanctified the middle of the court before the house of Jehovah. For there he had offered the burnt offering, and the food offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; because the bronze altar before Jehovah was too small to contain the burnt offering, and the food offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt, before Jehovah our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away. And they blessed the king and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that Jehovah had done for David His servant, and for Israel His people. And it happened as Solomon finished the building of the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, Jehovah appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. And Jehovah said to him, I have heard your prayer and your cry which you have made before Me. I have made this house which you have built holy, to put My name there forever. And My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. And if you will walk before Me as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you; and if you will keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom on Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not be cut off to you a man on the throne of Israel. If you shall at all turn from following Me, you or your sons, and will not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the face of the land which I have given them. And this house which I have made holy for My name I will cast out of My sight. And Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people. As to this house which is exalted, everyone who passes by it shall be amazed and shall hiss. And they shall say, Why has Jehovah done this to this land and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they left Jehovah their God who brought out their fathers from the land of Egypt, and have taken hold on other gods and have worshiped them and served them. On account of this Jehovah has brought on them all this evil. And it happened at the end of twenty years, Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king's house. Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desires. Then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him. And they did not please him. And he said, What cities are these which you have given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day. And Hiram sent to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold. And this is the reason of the labor force which King Solomon raised to build the house of Jehovah and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and had taken Gezer and had burned it with fire, and had slain the Canaanites who lived in the city. And he had given it for a present to his daughter, Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the lower, and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land. And he built all the store-cities which Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. And all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel also were not able to destroy completely, on those Solomon laid a tribute of bond-service to this day. But Solomon did not make any slave out of the sons of Israel. But they were men of war, and his servants, and his rulers, and his commanders, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen. These were the chief of the officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty who ruled over the people who labored in the work. But Pharaoh's daughter came up from the city of David to her house which had been built for her. And he built Millo. And three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense on the altar which was before Jehovah. And he finished the house. And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and brought gold from there, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon. And the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame concerning the name of Jehovah, and she came to test him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon, and she told him all that was in her heart. And Solomon answered all her questions for her. There was not a thing hidden from the king, which he did not tell her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house which he had built, and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, and his cupbearers, and his burnt offering that he offered up to the house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom. And I did not believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen. And behold! The half was not told me. Your wisdom and blessings are more than the fame which I heard. Happy are your men, happy are these who are your servants, who stand always before you, and who hear your wisdom. Blessed is Jehovah your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because Jehovah loved Israel forever; therefore, He made you king to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a very great store of spices, and precious stones. No spice like that came any more for abundance, that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. And also the navy of Hiram which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great abundance of almug trees and precious stones. And the king made of the almug trees a support for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, also lyres and harps for singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day. And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. And the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, apart from the merchant men, and and from the traffic of the traders, and from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the lands. And King Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into one target. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round in the back part. And there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays; and two lions were standing on the six steps, on this and on that side. There was not the like made in any kingdom. And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was counted nothing in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram. Once in three years the navy of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth sought Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. And every man brought his presents, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing and armor, and spices, horses and mules, so much year by year. And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had fourteen hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver like stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars like the sycamore trees in the valley for abundance. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and out of Kue. The king's merchants received them from Kue at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, they brought them out by their means. And King Solomon loved many foreign women, even the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hittites; of the nations which Jehovah had said to the sons of Israel, You shall not go in to them, and they shall not go in to you; surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For it happened when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods. And his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites; and Solomon did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and did not go fully after Jehovah like his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill which is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the sons of Ammon. And likewise he did for all his foreign wives, and burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. And Jehovah was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from Jehovah, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; and he did not keep that which Jehovah commanded. And Jehovah said to Solomon, Since this is done by you, and since you have not kept My covenant and My statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. But I will not do it in your days, for David your father's sake, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Only, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for David My servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen. And it happened Jehovah stirred up a foe to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the king's seed in Edom. For it happened when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had stricken every male in Edom-- for Joab remained there six months with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom-- it happened that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go to Egypt, Hadad being still a little child. And they arose out of Midian and came to Paran. And they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and appointed food for him, and gave him land. And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him the sister of his own wife for a wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh. And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, even Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart so that I may go to my own land. And Pharaoh said to him, But what have you lacked with me that, behold, you seek to go to your land? And he answered, Nothing; however, you shall certainly send me away. And God stirred up another foe, to him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. And he gathered men to him, and became head over a band when David killed them. And they went to Damascus and lived in it, and reigned in Damascus. And he was a foe to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the mischief which Hadad did. And he hated Israel and reigned over Syria. And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, he too lifted up his hand against the king. And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built Millo and repaired the breaks of the city of David his father. And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of war. And Solomon, seeing that the young man was doing work, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. And it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh found him in the way. And he had clothed himself with a new garment. And the two of them were alone in the field. And Ahijah caught hold of the new robe on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, Take ten pieces for yourself. For so says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you, but he shall have one tribe for My servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the goddess of the sons of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways, to do what is right in My eyes, and to keep My statutes and My judgments, as David his father did. But I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David My servant, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it to you, ten tribes. And to his son I will give one tribe, so that David My servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Me, to put My name there. And I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, it shall happen that I will be with you and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. And for this I will afflict the seed of David, but not forever. And Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel were forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam reigned in his place.
The First Temple » The ark of God brought into with great solemnity
And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel gathered themselves to the king in the feast in the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came. And the Levites took up the ark. read more.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought these up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were gathered to him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, to the Holy of Holies in the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread out their wings over the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark and its staves above. And they drew out the staves so that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle. But they were not seen outside. And there it is until this day. Nothing was in the ark except the two tables which Moses put in it at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought these up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were gathered to him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, to the Holy of Holies in the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread out their wings over the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark and its staves above. And they drew out the staves so that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle. But they were not seen outside. And there it is until this day. Nothing was in the ark except the two tables which Moses put in it at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt.
And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel were gathered to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came in, and the priests took up the ark. read more.
And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels which were in the tabernacle; even those the priests and the Levites brought up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah into its place, into the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark. And the cherubs covered the ark and the staves of it above. And they drew out the staves, so that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place, in front of the Holy of Holies. And they were not seen outside. And there they are until today. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.
And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels which were in the tabernacle; even those the priests and the Levites brought up. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah into its place, into the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubs. For the cherubs spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark. And the cherubs covered the ark and the staves of it above. And they drew out the staves, so that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place, in front of the Holy of Holies. And they were not seen outside. And there they are until today. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.