Solomon Instructed to Build the Temple

28 Now David assembled at Jerusalem all ^(A)the leaders of Israel: the officers of the tribes and ^(B)the captains of the divisions who served the king, the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, and ^(C)the stewards over all the substance and ^[a]possessions of the king and of his sons, with the officials, the valiant men, and all ^(D)the mighty men of valor.

² Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brethren and my people: ^(E)I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for ^(F)the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it. ³ But God said to me, ^(G)‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed ^(H)blood.’ ⁴ However the Lord God of Israel ^(I)chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for He has chosen ^(J)Judah to be the ruler. And of the house of Judah, ^(K)the house of my father, and ^(L)among the sons of my father, He was pleased with me to make me king over all Israel. ^5 (M)And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) ^(N)He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ⁶ Now He said to me, ‘It is ^(O)your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father. ⁷ Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, ^(P)if he is steadfast to observe My commandments and My judgments, as it is this day.’ ⁸ Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, be careful to seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you forever.

⁹ “As for you, my son Solomon, ^(Q)know the God of your father, and serve Him ^(R)with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for ^(S)the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. ^(T)If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will ^(U)cast you off forever. ¹⁰ Consider now, ^(V)for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.”

¹¹ Then David gave his son Solomon ^(W)the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; ¹² and the ^(X)plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around, ^(Y)of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things; ¹³ also for the division of the priests and the ^(Z)Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the articles of service in the house of the Lord. ¹⁴ He gave gold by weight for things of gold, for all articles used in every kind of service; also silver for all articles of silver by weight, for all articles used in every kind of service; ¹⁵ the weight for the ^(AA)lampstands of gold, and their lamps of gold, by weight for each lampstand and its lamps; for the lampstands of silver by weight, for the lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand. ¹⁶ And by weight he gave gold for the tables of the showbread, for each ^(AB)table, and silver for the tables of silver; ¹⁷ also pure gold for the forks, the basins, the pitchers of pure gold, and the golden bowls—he gave gold by weight for every bowl; and for the silver bowls, silver by weight for every bowl; ¹⁸ and refined gold by weight for the ^(AC)altar of incense, and for the construction of the chariot, that is, the gold ^(AD)cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ¹⁹ “All this,” said David, ^(AE)“the Lord made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the ^[b]works of these plans.”

²⁰ And David said to his son Solomon, ^(AF)“Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God—my God—will be with you. ^(AG)He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. ²¹ Here are ^(AH)the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and ^(AI)every willing craftsman will be with you for all manner of workmanship, for every kind of service; also the leaders and all the people will be completely at your command.”

Offerings for Building the Temple

29 Furthermore King David said to all the assembly: “My son Solomon, whom alone God has ^(AJ)chosen, is ^(AK)young and inexperienced; and the work is great, because the ^[c]temple is not for man but for the Lord God. ² Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold, silver for things of silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood, ^(AL)onyx stones, stones to be set, glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble slabs in abundance. ³ Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver: ⁴ three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of ^(AM)Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses; ⁵ the gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be done by the hands of craftsmen. Who then is ^(AN)willing to ^[d]consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”

⁶ Then ^(AO)the leaders of the fathers’ houses, leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with ^(AP)the officers over the king’s work, ^(AQ)offered willingly. ⁷ They gave for the work of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. ⁸ And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, into the hand of ^(AR)Jehiel^[e] the Gershonite. ⁹ Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had ^(AS)offered willingly to the Lord; and King David also rejoiced greatly.

David’s Praise to God

¹⁰ Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly; and David said:

¹⁶ “O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own. ¹⁷ I know also, my God, that You ^(AX)test the heart and ^(AY)have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here to offer willingly to You. ¹⁸ O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your people, and fix their heart toward You. ¹⁹ And ^(AZ)give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the ^[i]temple for which ^(BA)I have made provision.”

²⁰ Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the Lord your God.” So all the assembly blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the Lord and the king.

Solomon Anointed King^(BB)

²¹ And they made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the next day: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and ^(BC)sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. ²² So they ate and drank before the Lord with great gladness on that day. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and ^(BD)anointed him before the Lord to be the leader, and Zadok to be priest. ²³ Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, ^(BE)submitted^[j] themselves to King Solomon. ²⁵ So the Lord exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and ^(BF)bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The Close of David’s Reign

²⁶ Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ^27 (BG)And the period that he reigned over Israel was forty years; ^(BH)seven years he reigned in Hebron, and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem. ²⁸ So he ^(BI)died in a good old age, ^(BJ)full of days and riches and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his place. ²⁹ Now the acts of King David, first and last, indeed they are written in the ^[k]book of Samuel the seer, in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer, ³⁰ with all his reign and his might, ^(BK)and the events that happened to him, to Israel, and to all the kingdoms of the lands.

Solomon Requests Wisdom^(A)

1 Now ^(B)Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and ^(C)the Lord his God was with him and ^(D)exalted him exceedingly.

² And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to ^(E)the 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 ^[a]the high place that was at ^(F)Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had ^(G)made in the wilderness. ^4 (H)But 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 ^(I)the bronze altar that ^(J)Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, ^[b]he 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 ^(K)offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

^7 (L)On 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 ^(M)mercy to David my father, and have made me ^(N)king in his place. ⁹ Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, ^(O)for You have made me king over a people like the ^(P)dust of the earth in multitude. ^10 (Q)Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may ^(R)go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

^11 (S)Then 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 ^(T)none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”

Solomon’s Military and Economic Power^(U)

¹³ So Solomon came to Jerusalem from ^[c]the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel. ^14 (V)And 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 (W)Also 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 (X)And 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, ^[d]through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple^(Y)

2 Then Solomon ^(Z)determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. ^2 (AA)Solomon 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 ^[e]Hiram king of Tyre, saying:

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

^12 [i]Hiram also said:

^17 (AS)Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which ^(AT)David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸ And he made ^(AU)seventy 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^(AV)

3 Now ^(AW)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at ^(AX)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where ^[m]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of ^(AY)Ornan^[n] the 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 ^(AZ)which 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 ^(BA)vestibule that was in front of ^[o]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was ^[p]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. ^5 (BB)The larger ^[q]room he ^(BC)paneled 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 ^(BD)Most 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 ^(BE)area with gold. ^10 (BF)In 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 ^(BG)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

¹⁵ Also he made in front of the ^[r]temple ^(BH)two pillars ^[s]thirty-five cubits ^[t]high, 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 ^(BI)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. ¹⁷ Then he ^(BJ)set 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 ^[u]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left ^[v]Boaz.