Solomon Requests Wisdom

1 Now aSolomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and bthe Lord his God was with him and cexalted him exceedingly.

2 And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to dthe captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses. 3 Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to 1the high place that was at eGibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had fmade in the wilderness. 4 gBut David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. 5 Now hthe bronze altar that iBezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, 2he put before the tabernacle of the Lord; Solomon and the assembly sought Him there. 6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and joffered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

7 kOn that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

8 And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great lmercy to David my father, and have made me mking in his place. 9 Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, nfor You have made me king over a people like the odust of the earth in multitude. 10 pNow give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may qgo out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

11 rThen God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king—12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as snone of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”

Solomon’s Military and Economic Power

13 So Solomon came to Jerusalem from 3the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel. 14 tAnd Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 uAlso the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. 16 vAnd Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. 17 They also acquired and imported from Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty; thus, 4through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

2 Then Solomon adetermined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. 2 bSolomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

3 Then Solomon sent to 1Hiram king of Tyre, saying:

cAs you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, dI am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, eto burn before Him 2sweet incense, for fthe continual showbread, for gthe burnt offerings morning and evening, on the hSabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the 3set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

5 And the temple which I build will be great, for iour God is greater than all gods. 6 jBut who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?

7 Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, kwhom David my father provided. 8 lAlso send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the 4temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.

10 mAnd indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

11 Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon:

nBecause the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.

12 5Hiram also said:

oBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, pwho made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself!

13 And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, 6Huram my 7master craftsman 14 q(the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.

15 Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which rmy lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants. 16 sAnd we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to 8Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.

17 tThen Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which uDavid his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 And he made vseventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

Solomon Builds the Temple

3 Now aSolomon began to build the house of the Lord at bJerusalem on Mount Moriah, where 1the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of cOrnan 2the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

3 This is the foundation dwhich Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. 4 And the evestibule that was in front of 3the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was 4one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 fThe larger 5room he gpaneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. 6 And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

8 And he made the hMost Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper iarea with gold. 10 jIn the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; 12 one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. 14 And he made the kveil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

15 Also he made in front of the 6temple ltwo pillars 7thirty-five cubits 8high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made mone hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. 17 Then he nset up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand 9Jachin, and the name of the one on the left 1Boaz.

Furnishings of the Temple

4 Moreover he made aa bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

2 bThen he made the 1Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3 cAnd under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast. 4 It stood on twelve doxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. 5 It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained 2three thousand baths.

6 He also made eten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the 3Sea was for the fpriests to wash in. 7 gAnd he made ten lampstands of gold haccording to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. 8 iHe also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred jbowls of gold.

9 Furthermore khe …