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2 Chronicles 7-9
New King James Version

Solomon Dedicates the Temple(A)

7 When (B)Solomon had finished praying, (C)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and (D)the glory of the Lord filled the [a]temple. 2 (E)And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:

(F)“For He is good,
(G)For His mercy endures forever.”

4 (H)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 (I)And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their [b]ministry. (J)The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.

7 Furthermore (K)Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.

8 (L)At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly (M)from the entrance of Hamath to (N)the[c] Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a (O)sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 10 (P)On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel. 11 Thus (Q)Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house.

God’s Second Appearance to Solomon(R)

12 Then the Lord (S)appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, (T)and have chosen this (U)place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 (V)When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are (W)called by My name will (X)humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, (Y)then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now (Z)My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now (AA)I have chosen and [d]sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and [e]My eyes and [f]My heart will be there perpetually. 17 (AB)As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, (AC)‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’

19 (AD)“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 (AE)then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have [g]sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a (AF)byword among all peoples.

21 “And as for (AG)this [h]house, which [i]is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be (AH)astonished and say, (AI)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ 22 Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”

Solomon’s Additional Achievements(AJ)

8 It (AK)came to pass at the end of (AL)twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, 2 that the cities which [j]Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. 3 And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. 4 (AM)He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in (AN)Hamath. 5 He built Upper Beth Horon and (AO)Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6 also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon (AP)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

7 (AQ)All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— 8 that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make the children of Israel [k]servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. 10 And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: (AR)two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.

11 Now Solomon (AS)brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”

12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the vestibule, 13 according to the (AT)daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the (AU)three appointed yearly (AV)feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. 14 And, according to the [l]order of David his father, he appointed the (AW)divisions of the priests for their service, (AX)the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the (AY)gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. 15 They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the (AZ)treasuries.

16 Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered [m]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

17 Then Solomon went to (BA)Ezion Geber and [n]Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. 18 (BB)And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to (BC)Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon(BD)

9 Now (BE)when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 2 So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her. 3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his (BF)cupbearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.

5 Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 6 However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard. 7 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has (BG)loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

9 And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10 Also, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, (BH)who brought gold from Ophir, brought [o]algum wood and precious stones. 11 And the king made walkways of the [p]algum wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers; and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah.

12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth(BI)

13 (BJ)The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; [q]three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the (BK)House of the Forest of Lebanon.

17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne; there were [r]armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 19 Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king’s ships went to (BL)Tarshish with the servants of [s]Hiram. Once every three years the [t]merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and [u]monkeys.

22 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24 Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, (BM)armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.

25 Solomon (BN)had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.

26 (BO)So he reigned over all the kings (BP)from [v]the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27 (BQ)The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees (BR)as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. 28 (BS)And they brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.

Death of Solomon(BT)

29 (BU)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of (BV)Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of (BW)Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 (BX)Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Then Solomon [w]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 7:1 Lit. house
  2. 2 Chronicles 7:6 Lit. hand
  3. 2 Chronicles 7:8 The Shihor, 1 Chr. 13:5
  4. 2 Chronicles 7:16 set apart
  5. 2 Chronicles 7:16 My attention
  6. 2 Chronicles 7:16 My concern
  7. 2 Chronicles 7:20 set apart
  8. 2 Chronicles 7:21 Temple
  9. 2 Chronicles 7:21 Or was
  10. 2 Chronicles 8:2 Heb. Huram, 2 Chr. 2:3
  11. 2 Chronicles 8:9 slaves
  12. 2 Chronicles 8:14 ordinance
  13. 2 Chronicles 8:16 So with LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT as far as
  14. 2 Chronicles 8:17 Heb. Eloth, 2 Kin. 14:22
  15. 2 Chronicles 9:10 almug, 1 Kin. 10:11, 12
  16. 2 Chronicles 9:11 almug, 1 Kin. 10:11, 12
  17. 2 Chronicles 9:16 three minas, 1 Kin. 10:17
  18. 2 Chronicles 9:18 Lit. hands
  19. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 10:22
  20. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Lit. ships of Tarshish, deep-sea vessels
  21. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Or peacocks
  22. 2 Chronicles 9:26 The Euphrates
  23. 2 Chronicles 9:31 Died and joined his ancestors
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2 Chronicles 7-9
New International Version

The Dedication of the Temple(A)

7 When Solomon finished praying, fire(B) came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled(C) the temple.(D) 2 The priests could not enter(E) the temple of the Lord because the glory(F) of the Lord filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,

“He is good;
    his love endures forever.”(G)

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. 6 The priests took their positions, as did the Levites(H) with the Lord’s musical instruments,(I) which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.

7 Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat(J) of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.

8 So Solomon observed the festival(K) at that time for seven days, and all Israel(L) with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath(M) to the Wadi of Egypt.(N) 9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated(O) the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival(P) for seven days more. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.

The Lord Appears to Solomon(Q)

11 When Solomon had finished(R) the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared(S) to him at night and said:

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen(T) this place for myself(U) as a temple for sacrifices.

13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,(V) or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name,(W) will humble(X) themselves and pray and seek my face(Y) and turn(Z) from their wicked ways, then I will hear(AA) from heaven, and I will forgive(AB) their sin and will heal(AC) their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.(AD) 16 I have chosen(AE) and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully(AF) as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees(AG) and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted(AH) with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor(AI) to rule over Israel.’(AJ)

19 “But if you[a] turn away(AK) and forsake(AL) the decrees and commands I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot(AM) Israel from my land,(AN) which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule(AO) among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled(AP) and say,(AQ) ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them(AR)—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

Solomon’s Other Activities(AS)

8 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the Lord and his own palace,(AT) 2 Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram[d] had given him, and settled Israelites in them. 3 Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. 4 He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath.(AU) 5 He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon(AV) and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities, with walls and with gates and bars, 6 as well as Baalath(AW) and all his store cities, and all the cities for his chariots and for his horses[e]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

7 There were still people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites(AX) (these people were not Israelites). 8 Solomon conscripted(AY) the descendants of all these people remaining in the land—whom the Israelites had not destroyed—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 10 They were also King Solomon’s chief officials—two hundred and fifty officials supervising the men.

11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter(AZ) up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

12 On the altar(BA) of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord, 13 according to the daily requirement(BB) for offerings commanded by Moses for the Sabbaths,(BC) the New Moons(BD) and the three(BE) annual festivals—the Festival of Unleavened Bread,(BF) the Festival of Weeks(BG) and the Festival of Tabernacles.(BH) 14 In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions(BI) of the priests for their duties, and the Levites(BJ) to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day’s requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers(BK) by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God(BL) had ordered.(BM) 15 They did not deviate from the king’s commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.

16 All Solomon’s work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid until its completion. So the temple of the Lord was finished.

17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom. 18 And Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own men, sailors who knew the sea. These, with Solomon’s men, sailed to Ophir and brought back four hundred and fifty talents[f] of gold,(BN) which they delivered to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon(BO)

9 When the queen of Sheba(BP) heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. 2 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3 When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon,(BQ) as well as the palace he had built, 4 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at[g] the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6 But I did not believe what they said until I came(BR) and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7 How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne(BS) as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king(BT) over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”

9 Then she gave the king 120 talents[h] of gold,(BU) large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10 (The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir;(BV) they also brought algumwood[i] and precious stones. 11 The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)

12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

Solomon’s Splendor(BW)

13 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,[j] 14 not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia(BX) and the governors of the territories brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels[k] of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred small shields(BY) of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels[l] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.(BZ)

17 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory(CA) and overlaid with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 19 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20 All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s day. 21 The king had a fleet of trading ships[m] manned by Hiram’s[n] servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

22 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.(CB) 23 All the kings(CC) of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift(CD)—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots,(CE) and twelve thousand horses,[o] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled(CF) over all the kings from the Euphrates River(CG) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.(CH) 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all other countries.

Solomon’s Death(CI)

29 As for the other events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan(CJ) the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah(CK) the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam(CL) son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David(CM) his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 7:19 The Hebrew is plural.
  2. 2 Chronicles 7:19 The Hebrew is plural.
  3. 2 Chronicles 7:21 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now so imposing, all
  4. 2 Chronicles 8:2 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verse 18
  5. 2 Chronicles 8:6 Or charioteers
  6. 2 Chronicles 8:18 That is, about 17 tons or about 15 metric tons
  7. 2 Chronicles 9:4 Or and the ascent by which he went up to
  8. 2 Chronicles 9:9 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons
  9. 2 Chronicles 9:10 Probably a variant of almugwood
  10. 2 Chronicles 9:13 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons
  11. 2 Chronicles 9:15 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms
  12. 2 Chronicles 9:16 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms
  13. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Hebrew of ships that could go to Tarshish
  14. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram
  15. 2 Chronicles 9:25 Or charioteers
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