Joab Disapproves of David’s Mourning

19 ^[a]Then it was reported to Joab, “Behold, ^(A)the king is weeping and he mourns for Absalom.” ² So the ^[b]victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, because the people heard it said that day, “The king is in mourning over his son.” ³ And the people entered the city surreptitiously that day, just as people who are humiliated surreptitiously flee in battle. ⁴ And the king ^(B)covered his face and ^[c]cried out with a loud voice, “^(C)My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!” ⁵ Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed ^[d]all your servants, who have saved your life today and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines, ⁶ by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have revealed today that ^[e]commanders and servants are nothing to you; for I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right ^[f]as far as you are concerned. ⁷ Now therefore arise, go out and speak ^[g]kindly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, ^(D)no man will stay the night with you, and this will be worse for you than all the misfortune that has ^[h]happened to you from your youth until now!”

David Restored as King

⁸ So the king got up and sat at the gate. When they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is ^(E)sitting at the gate,” then all the people came before the king.

Now ^(F)Israel had fled, each to his tent. ⁹ And all the people were quarreling throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, “^(G)The king rescued us from the ^[i]hands of our enemies and ^(H)saved us from the ^[j]hands of the Philistines, but now ^(I)he has fled out of the land from Absalom. ¹⁰ However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now then, why are you silent about bringing the king back?”

¹¹ Then King David sent word to ^(J)Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house? ¹² You are my brothers; ^(K)you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’ ¹³ And say to ^(L)Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? ^(M)May God do so to me, and more so, if you will not be ^(N)commander of the army ^[k]for me continually, ^(O)in place of Joab.’” ¹⁴ So he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah ^(P)as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.” ¹⁵ The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And the men of Judah came to ^(Q)Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan.

¹⁶ Then ^(R)Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁷ And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and ^(S)Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king. ¹⁸ Then they crossed the shallow places repeatedly to bring over the king’s household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan. ¹⁹ And he said to the king, “^(T)May my lord not consider me guilty, nor call to mind what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would ^[l]take it to heart. ²⁰ For your servant knows that I have sinned; so behold, I have come today, ^(U)the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.” ²¹ But Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded, “^(V)Should Shimei not be put to death for this, ^(W)the fact that he cursed the Lord’s anointed?” ²² David then said, “^(X)What ^[m]is there between you and me, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? ^(Y)Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?” ²³ So the king said to Shimei, “^(Z)You shall not die.” The king also swore to him.

²⁴ Then ^(AA)Mephibosheth the ^[n]grandson of Saul came down to meet the king; but ^(AB)he had neither ^[o]tended to his feet, nor ^[p]trimmed his mustache, nor ^(AC)washed his clothes since the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace. ²⁵ And it was when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, “^(AD)Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” ²⁶ So he said, “My lord the king, my servant betrayed me; for your servant said, ‘I will ^[q]saddle the donkey for myself so that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ ^(AE)since your servant cannot walk. ²⁷ Furthermore, ^(AF)he has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is ^(AG)like the angel of God, therefore do what is good in your sight. ²⁸ For ^(AH)all my father’s household was only people worthy of death to my lord the king; ^(AI)yet you placed your servant among those who ate at your own table. So what right do I still have, that I should ^[r]complain anymore to the king?” ²⁹ So the king said to him, “Why do you still speak of your affairs? I have ^[s]decided, ‘You and Ziba shall divide the land.’” ³⁰ And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his own house.”

³¹ Now ^(AJ)Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan with the king to ^[t]escort him over the Jordan. ³² Barzillai was very old: eighty years old; and he had ^(AK)provided the king food while he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. ³³ So the king said to Barzillai, “You cross over with me, and I will provide you food in Jerusalem with me.” ³⁴ But Barzillai said to the king, “^(AL)How long ^[u]do I still have to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁵ I am ^[v]now ^(AM)eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear ^(AN)the voice of men and women singing? ^(AO)Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? ³⁶ Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. So why should the king compensate me with this reward? ³⁷ Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant ^(AP)Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.” ³⁸ And the king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight; and whatever you ^[w]require of me, I will do for you.” ³⁹ All the people crossed over the Jordan and the king crossed too. The king then ^(AQ)kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.

⁴⁰ Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; and all the people of Judah and also ^(AR)half the people of Israel ^[x]accompanied the king. ⁴¹ And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “^(AS)Why have our brothers, ^(AT)the men of Judah, abducted you and brought the king and his household and all David’s men with him, over the Jordan?” ⁴² Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because ^(AU)the king is a close relative to ^[y]us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all ^[z]at the king’s expense, or has anything been taken for us?” ⁴³ But the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “^[aa](AV)We have ten parts in the king, therefore ^[ab]we also have more claim on David than you. Why then did you treat ^[ac]us with contempt? Was it not ^[ad]our ^[ae]advice first to bring back ^[af]our king?” Yet the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.

Sheba’s Revolt

20 Now ^(AW)a worthless man happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of ^(AX)Bichri, a Benjaminite; and he blew the trumpet and said,

² So all the men of Israel ^[ag]withdrew from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah ^[ah]remained loyal to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

³ Then David came to his house in Jerusalem, and ^(BB)the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left behind to take care of the house, and put them in custody and provided them with food, but did not ^[ai]have relations with them. So they were locked up until the day of their death, living as widows.

⁴ Now the king said to ^(BC)Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself.” ⁵ So Amasa went to summon the men of Judah, but he was ^(BD)delayed longer than the set time which he had designated for him. ⁶ And David said to ^(BE)Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; ^(BF)take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight.” ⁷ So Joab’s men went out after him, ^(BG)along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors; and they left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. ⁸ When they were at the large stone which is in ^(BH)Gibeon, Amasa came ^[aj]to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it he had a belt with a sword in its sheath strapped on at his waist; and as he went forward, it fell out. ⁹ And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it going well for you, my brother?” And ^(BI)Joab took hold of Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

Amasa Murdered

¹⁰ But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab’s hand, so ^(BJ)he struck him in the belly with it and spilled out his intestines on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. ¹¹ Now one of Joab’s young men stood by him and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, ^(BK)follow Joab!” ¹² But Amasa was wallowing in his own blood in the middle of the road. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa from the road to the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

Revolt Put Down

¹³ As soon as he was removed from the road, all the men went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

¹⁴ Now he went on through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, that is, Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and went after him as well. ¹⁵ And they came and besieged him in ^(BL)Abel Beth-maacah, and ^(BM)they ^[ak]built up an assault ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to topple the wall. ¹⁶ Then ^(BN)a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen, listen! Please tell Joab, ‘Come here that I may speak with you.’” ¹⁷ So he approached her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your slave.” And he said, “I am listening.” ¹⁸ Then she spoke, saying, “In the past they used to say, ‘They will undoubtedly ask advice at Abel,’ and that is how they ended a dispute. ¹⁹ I am one of those who are ready for peace and faithful in Israel. ^(BO)You are trying to destroy a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up ^(BP)the inheritance of the Lord?” ²⁰ Joab replied, “Far be it, far be it from me that I would consume or destroy! ²¹ Such is not the case. But a man from ^(BQ)the hill country of Ephraim, ^(BR)Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has raised his hand against King David. Only turn him over, and I will depart from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” ²² Then the woman ^(BS)wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So ^(BT)he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem.

^23 (BU)Now Joab was in command of the entire army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; ²⁴ and Adoram was over the forced labor, and ^(BV)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary; ²⁵ and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and ^(BW)Abiathar were priests; ²⁶ Ira the Jairite also was a priest to David.

Gibeonite’s Revenge

21 Now there was ^(BX)a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and ^(BY)David sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” ² So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and ^(BZ)the sons of Israel had ^[al]made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to ^[am]kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). ³ David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make amends, so that you will bless ^(CA)the inheritance of the Lord?” ⁴ Then the Gibeonites said to him, “^(CB)For us it is not a matter of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” Nevertheless David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” ⁵ So they said to the king, “^(CC)The man who destroyed us and who planned ^[an]to eliminate us so that we would not exist within any border of Israel— ⁶ let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will ^[ao]hang them ^(CD)before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, ^(CE)the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

⁷ But the king spared ^(CF)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, ^(CG)because of the oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. ⁸ So the king took the two sons of ^(CH)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of ^[ap](CI)Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the ^(CJ)Meholathite. ⁹ Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they ^[aq]hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at ^(CK)the beginning of barley harvest.

^10 (CL)And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until ^[ar]it rained on them from the sky; and ^(CM)she ^[as]allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night. ¹¹ When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, ¹² then David went and took ^(CN)the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of ^(CO)Beth-shan, ^(CP)where the Philistines had hanged them on the day ^(CQ)the Philistines struck and killed Saul in Gilboa. ¹³ He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been ^[at]hanged. ¹⁴ Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in ^(CR)Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; So they did everything that the king commanded, and after that ^(CS)God responded to prayer for the land.

¹⁵ Now when ^(CT)the Philistines were at war with Israel again, David went down, and his servants with him; and when they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. ¹⁶ Then Ishbi-benob, who was ^(CU)among the descendants of the ^[au]giant, the weight of whose spear was ^[av]three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, ^[aw]had strapped on a new sword, and he ^[ax]intended to kill David. ¹⁷ But ^(CV)Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “^(CW)You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish ^(CX)the lamp of Israel.”

^18 (CY)Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then ^(CZ)Sibbecai the Hushathite struck and killed Saph, who was among the descendants of the ^[ay]giant. ¹⁹ And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite ^[az]killed ^[ba]Goliath the Gittite, ^(DA)the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ²⁰ And there was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born ^(DB)to the ^[bb]giant. ²¹ When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck and killed him. ^22 (DC)These four were born to the ^[bc]giant at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

David’s Psalm of Deliverance

22 ^(DD)Now David spoke ^(DE)the words of this song to the Lord on the day that the Lord had saved him from the ^[bd]hand of all his enemies and from the ^[be]hand of Saul. ² He said,

David’s Last Song

23 Now these are the last words of David.

David’s Mighty Men

^8 (GL)These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of the ^[ch]captains; he was called Adino the Eznite because of eight hundred who were killed by him at one time. ⁹ And after him was Eleazar the son of ^(GM)Dodo the ^(GN)Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had ^[ci]withdrawn. ^10 (GO)He rose up and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and ^[cj]it clung to the sword, and ^(GP)the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder the dead.

¹¹ Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee, a ^(GQ)Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered ^[ck]into an army where there was a plot of land full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it, and struck the Philistines; and ^(GR)the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹³ Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time to the ^(GS)cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in ^(GT)the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then ^(GU)in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁵ And ^(GV)David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” ^16 (GW)So the three mighty men forced their way into the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Yet he would not drink it, but ^(GX)poured it out as an offering to the Lord; ¹⁷ and he said, “Far be it from me, Lord, that I would do this! ^(GY)Should I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

¹⁸ Now ^(GZ)Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was ^(HA)chief of the ^[cl]thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred ^[cm]and killed them, and had a name ^[cn]as well as the three. ¹⁹ He was the most honored among the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the reputation of the three.

²⁰ Then ^(HB)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of ^(HC)Kabzeel, who had done great deeds, ^[co]killed the ^[cp]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. ²¹ And he ^[cq]killed an Egyptian, ^[cr]an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²² These things ^(HD)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name ^[cs]as well as the three mighty men. ²³ He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the three. And David appointed him over his bodyguard.

^24 (HE)Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; and there was Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ^25 (HF)Shammah the ^(HG)Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the ^(HH)Tekoite, ²⁷ Abiezer the ^(HI)Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the ^(HJ)Netophathite, ^29 (HK)Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of ^(HL)Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, ³⁰ Benaiah a ^(HM)Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of ^(HN)Gaash, ³¹ Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the ^(HO)Barhumite, ³² Eliahba the ^(HP)Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ^33 (HQ)Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of ^(HR)the Maacathite, ^(HS)Eliam the son of ^(HT)Ahithophel the Gilonite, ^35 (HU)Hezro the ^(HV)Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal the son of Nathan of ^(HW)Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the ^(HX)Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ³⁸ Ira the ^(HY)Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹ and ^(HZ)Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.

The Census Taken

24 ^(IA)Now ^(IB)the anger of the Lord burned against Israel again, and He incited David against them to say, “^(IC)Go, count Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army, who was with him, “Roam about now through all the tribes of Israel, ^(ID)from Dan to Beersheba, and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, “^(IE)May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king can still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s order prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the presence of the king to conduct a census of the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and camped in ^(IF)Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the Valley of Gad and toward ^(IG)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to ^[ct]the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to ^(IH)Sidon, ⁷ then they came to the ^(II)fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(IJ)Hivites and of the Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to ^(IK)Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had roamed about through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave ^(IL)the number of the census of the people to the king: in Israel there were ^(IM)eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰ Now ^(IN)David’s heart ^[cu]troubled him after he had counted the people. So David said to the Lord, “^(IO)I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, Lord, please ^[cv]overlook the guilt of Your servant, for ^(IP)I have acted very foolishly.” ¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(IQ)Gad the prophet, David’s ^(IR)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and speak to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am imposing upon you three choices; choose for yourself one of them, and I will do it to you.”’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(IS)seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee for three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ of plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(IT)for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

Plague Sent

¹⁵ So ^(IU)the Lord ^[cw]sent a plague upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people ^(IV)from Dan to Beersheba died. ^16 (IW)When the angel extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, ^(IX)the Lord relented of the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now drop your hand!” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, “Behold, ^(IY)it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but ^(IZ)these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house!”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “^(JA)Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of ^[cx]Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ Then David went up in accordance with the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded. ²⁰ And Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; so Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. ²¹ Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, ^(JB)so that the plague may be ^[cy]withdrawn from the people.” ²² Araunah then said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, here are ^(JC)the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. ²³ Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God be ^(JD)favorable to you.” ²⁴ However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price; for ^(JE)I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God ^[cz]that cost me nothing.” So ^(JF)David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵ Then David built there an altar to the Lord, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And ^(JG)the Lord responded to prayer for the land, and the plague was ^[da]withdrawn from Israel.

David in Old Age

1 Now King David was old, ^[a]advanced in age; and they covered him with garments, but he could not keep warm. ² So his servants said to him, “Have them search for a young virgin for my lord the king, and have her ^[b]attend the king and become his nurse; and have her lie on your chest, so that my lord the king may keep warm.” ³ So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the ^(A)Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king did not ^[c]become intimate with her.

⁵ Now ^(B)Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” So ^(C)he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, with fifty men to run before him. ⁶ And his father had never rebuked him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?” And he was also a very handsome man, and ^[d](D)he was born after Absalom. ⁷ Now ^[e]he had conferred with ^(E)Joab the son of Zeruiah and with ^(F)Abiathar the priest; and they allied themselves with ^(G)Adonijah. ⁸ But ^(H)Zadok the priest, ^(I)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, ^(J)Nathan the prophet, ^(K)Shimei, Rei, and ^(L)the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened steers by the ^[f]stone of Zoheleth, which is beside ^(M)En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. ¹⁰ But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or his brother ^(N)Solomon.

Nathan and Bathsheba

¹¹ Then Nathan spoke to ^(O)Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it? ¹² So now come, please let me ^(P)give you advice, and save your life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go ^[g]at once to King David and say to him, ‘Have you not, my lord the king, sworn to your servant, saying, “^(Q)Solomon your son certainly shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba entered to the king in the bedroom. Now ^(R)the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king. ¹⁶ Then Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself ^[h]before the king. And the king said, “What ^[i]is on your mind?” ¹⁷ So she said to him, “My lord, you yourself swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘^(S)Your son Solomon certainly shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ But now, behold, Adonijah is king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know it. ^19 (T)He has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. ²⁰ And as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, to announce to them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Otherwise it will come about, ^(U)as soon as my lord the king ^[j]lies down with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered ^[k]offenders.”

²² And behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³ They informed the king, saying, “Nathan the prophet is here.” And when he came into the king’s presence, he prostrated himself ^[l]before the king with his face to the ground. ²⁴ Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you yourself said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ^25 (V)For he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they are eating and drinking in his presence; and they say, ‘^(W)Long live King Adonijah!’ ^26 (X)But me, even me your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon, he has not invited. ²⁷ Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not let your ^[m]servants know who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

²⁸ Then King David responded and said, “Summon Bathsheba to me.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. ²⁹ Then the king vowed and said, “^(Y)As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, ³⁰ certainly as ^(Z)I vowed to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Your son Solomon certainly shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place’; I will indeed do so this day.” ³¹ Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and prostrated herself before the king and said, “^(AA)May my lord King David live forever.”

³² Then King David said, “Summon to me ^(AB)Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” And they came into the king’s presence. ³³ And the king said to them, “Take with you ^(AC)the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to ^(AD)Gihon. ³⁴ And have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet ^(AE)anoint him there as king over Israel, and ^(AF)blow the trumpet and say, ‘^(AG)Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.” ³⁶ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say the same. ^37 (AH)Just as the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon, and ^(AI)make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David!”

Solomon Anointed King

³⁸ So ^(AJ)Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, ^(AK)the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to ^(AL)Gihon. ³⁹ And Zadok the priest then ^(AM)took the horn of oil from the tent and ^(AN)anointed Solomon. Then they ^(AO)blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “^(AP)Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ And all the people went up after him, and the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth ^[n]shook at their noise.

⁴¹ Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard this as they finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the ^[o]city making such an uproar?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, behold, ^(AQ)Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Then Adonijah said, “Come in, for ^(AR)you are a valiant man and you bring good news.” ⁴³ But Jonathan replied to Adonijah, “On the contrary! Our lord King David has made Solomon king! ⁴⁴ The king has also sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have mounted him on the king’s mule. ⁴⁵ Furthermore, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and they have come up from there rejoicing, ^(AS)so that the city is going wild. This is the noise which you have heard. ⁴⁶ Besides, ^(AT)Solomon has even taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May ^(AU)your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and his throne greater than your throne!’ And ^(AV)the king bowed himself on the bed. ⁴⁸ The king has also said this: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who ^(AW)has granted one to sit on my throne today while my own eyes see it.’”

⁴⁹ Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and got up, and each went on his way. ⁵⁰ Adonijah also was afraid of Solomon, and he got up, and went, and ^(AX)took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ Now it was reported to Solomon, saying, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘May King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’” ⁵² And Solomon said, “If he is a worthy man, ^(AY)not one of his hairs will fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he will die.” ⁵³ So King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and prostrated himself before King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

David’s Command to Solomon

2 As David’s ^[p](AZ)time to die drew near, he commanded his son Solomon, saying, ² “^(BA)I am going the way of all the earth. So ^(BB)be strong, and ^[q]prove yourself a man. ³ Do your duty to the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to ^[r]keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, ^(BC)according to what is written in the Law of Moses, so that ^(BD)you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, ⁴ so that ^(BE)the Lord may fulfill His ^[s]promise which He spoke regarding me, saying, ‘^(BF)If your sons are careful about their way, ^(BG)to walk before Me in ^[t]truth with all their heart and all their soul, ^[u](BH)you shall not be deprived of a man to occupy the throne of Israel.’

⁵ “Now you yourself also know what Joab the ^(BI)son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^(BJ)Abner the son of Ner and to ^(BK)Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also ^[v]shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt that was on his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. ^6 (BL)So act as your wisdom dictates, and do not let his gray hair go down to ^[w]Sheol in peace. ⁷ However, ^(BM)show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and ^(BN)let them be among those who eat at your table; ^(BO)for ^[x]they assisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother. ⁸ And behold, you have with you ^(BP)Shimei the son of Gera the Benjaminite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a painful curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when ^(BQ)he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ But now do not leave him unpunished, ^(BR)for you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to ^[y]Sheol with blood.”

Death of David

¹⁰ Then ^(BS)David ^[z]lay down with his fathers, and he was buried in ^(BT)the city of David. ¹¹ Now ^(BU)the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Hebron he reigned for ^(BV)seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned for thirty-three years. ¹² Then ^(BW)Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, “^(BX)Do you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” ¹⁵ So he said, “You yourself know that ^(BY)the kingdom was mine and ^(BZ)that all Israel ^[aa]intended for me to be king; ^(CA)however, the kingdom has turned around and become my brother’s, ^(CB)for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ So now I am making one request of you; do not ^[ab]refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷ Then he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king—for he will not ^[ac]refuse you—that he may give me ^(CC)Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.” ¹⁸ And Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”

Adonijah Executed

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king stood to meet her, bowed to her, and sat on his throne; then he ^(CD)had a throne set up for the king’s mother, and ^(CE)she sat on his right. ²⁰ Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; ^(CF)do not ^[ad]refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not ^[ae]refuse you.” ²¹ So she said, “^(CG)Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.” ²² But King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ^(CH)Request for him the kingdom as well—^(CI)since he is my older brother—for him, for ^(CJ)Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more so, if Adonijah has ^(CK)not spoken this word against his own ^[af]life! ²⁴ Now then, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and ^(CL)has made me a house just as He ^[ag]promised, Adonijah certainly shall be put to death today!” ²⁵ Then King Solomon ^(CM)sent the order by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he ^[ah]struck him so that he died.

²⁶ Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “^(CN)Go to Anathoth to your own field, ^(CO)for you ^[ai]deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this ^[aj]time, because ^(CP)you carried the ark of the Lord ^[ak]God before my father David, and because ^(CQ)you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” ²⁷ So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, to fulfill ^(CR)the word of the Lord, which He had spoken regarding the house of Eli in Shiloh.

Joab Executed

²⁸ Now the news came to Joab ^(CS)because Joab had followed Adonijah, ^(CT)though he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and ^(CU)took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And it was reported to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord, and ^[al]was beside the altar. Then Solomon ^(CV)sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “^(CW)Go, ^[am]execute him.” ³⁰ So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “This is what the king has said: ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, for I will die here.” So Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “This is what Joab spoke, and so he answered me.” ³¹ And the king said to him, “^(CX)Do just as he has spoken, and ^[an]execute him and bury him, ^(CY)so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without ^[ao]justification. ^32 (CZ)The Lord will return his blood on his own head, ^(DA)because he ^[ap]struck two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know about it: ^(DB)Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and ^(DC)Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. ^33 (DD)So their blood shall return on the head of Joab and on the head of his ^[aq]descendants forever; but for David and his ^[ar]descendants, and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.” ³⁴ Then ^(DE)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and ^[as]struck him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house ^(DF)in the wilderness. ³⁵ And ^(DG)the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed ^(DH)Zadok the priest ^(DI)in place of Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

³⁶ Now the king sent men and summoned ^(DJ)Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not leave there for any other place. ³⁷ For on the day you leave and ^(DK)cross the ^[at]brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you will assuredly die; ^(DL)your blood will be ^[au]on your own head.” ³⁸ Shimei then said to the king, “The word is good. Just as my lord the king has spoken, so your servant shall do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for many days.

³⁹ But it came about at the end of three years, that two of Shimei’s servants ran away ^(DM)to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And others told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.” ⁴⁰ Then Shimei got up and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to search for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. ⁴¹ And it was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. ⁴² So the king sent men and summoned Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall assuredly die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I ^[av]imposed on you?” ⁴⁴ The king also said to Shimei, “^(DN)You yourself know all the evil that ^[aw]you acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David; therefore ^(DO)the Lord will return your evil on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon will be blessed, and ^(DP)the throne of David will be established before the Lord forever.” ^46 (DQ)So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and ^[ax]struck him so that he died.

^(DR)And the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.

Solomon’s Rule Consolidated

3 Now ^(DS)Solomon ^[ay]formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter ^(DT)and brought her to the city of David ^(DU)until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord, and ^(DV)the wall around Jerusalem. ^2 (DW)The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

³ Now ^(DX)Solomon loved the Lord, ^(DY)walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he was sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. ⁴ And ^(DZ)the king went to ^(EA)Gibeon to sacrifice there, ^(EB)because that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ^5 (EC)In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon ^(ED)in a dream at night; and God said, “^(EE)Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer

⁶ Then Solomon said, “^(EF)You have shown great faithfulness to Your servant David my father, ^(EG)according as he walked before You in ^[az]truth, righteousness, and uprightness of heart toward You; and ^(EH)You have ^[ba]reserved for him this great faithfulness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷ And now, Lord my God, ^(EI)You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet ^(EJ)I am like a little boy; ^(EK)I do not know how to ^[bb]go out or come in. ⁸ And ^(EL)Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, ^(EM)a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. ⁹ So ^(EN)give Your servant ^[bc]an understanding heart to judge Your people, ^(EO)to discern between good and evil. For who is capable of judging this ^[bd]great people of Yours?”

God’s Answer

¹⁰ Now ^[be]it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹ And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have ^(EP)not asked for yourself ^[bf]a long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, ¹² behold, ^(EQ)I have done according to your words. Behold, ^(ER)I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. ^13 (ES)I have also given you what you have not asked, both ^(ET)riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. ¹⁴ And ^(EU)if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will ^(EV)prolong your days.”

¹⁵ Then ^(EW)Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and ^(EX)held a feast for all his servants.

Solomon Wisely Judges

¹⁶ Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ The one woman said, “Pardon me, my lord: ^[bg]this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child ^[bh]while she was in the house. ¹⁸ And it happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house. ¹⁹ Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. ²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant was asleep, and she laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. ²¹ When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead! But when I examined him closely in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne!” ²² Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But ^[bi]the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” So they spoke before the king.

²³ Then the king said, “^[bj]The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and ^[bk]the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” ²⁴ And the king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ And the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” ²⁶ But the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for ^[bl](EY)she was deeply stirred over her son, and she said, “Pardon me, my lord! Give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other woman was saying, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!” ²⁷ Then the king replied, “Give ^[bm]the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” ²⁸ When all Israel heard about the judgment which the king had ^[bn]handed down, they feared the king, because ^(EZ)they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to ^[bo]administer justice.

Solomon’s Officials

4 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² These were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was ^(FA)the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were scribes; ^(FB)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary; ⁴ and ^(FC)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and ^(FD)Abiathar were priests; ⁵ and Azariah the son of Nathan was over ^(FE)the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s confidant; ⁶ and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each deputy had to provide food for a month in the year. ⁸ And these were their names: Ben-hur, in the ^(FF)hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker in Makaz and ^(FG)Shaalbim, and ^(FH)Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed in Arubboth (^(FI)Socoh was his and all the land of ^(FJ)Hepher); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab in all ^[bp]the ^(FK)hills of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud in ^(FL)Taanach and Megiddo, and all ^(FM)Beth-shean which is beside ^(FN)Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to ^(FO)Abel-meholah as far as the other side of ^(FP)Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber in ^(FQ)Ramoth-gilead (^(FR)the villages of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: ^(FS)the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo in ^(FT)Mahanaim; ^15 (FU)Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); ¹⁶ Baana the son of ^(FV)Hushai in Asher and ^[bq]Bealoth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar; ^18 (FW)Shimei the son of Ela in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri in the land of Gilead, ^(FX)the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.

Solomon’s Power, Wealth, and Wisdom

^20 (FY)Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the ^[br]seashore in abundance; they were eating, drinking, and rejoicing.

^21 [bs](FZ)Now Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms ^(GA)from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; ^(GB)they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²² Solomon’s ^[bt]provision for one day was ^[bu]thirty kors of fine flour and ^[bv]sixty kors of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, twenty ^[bw]pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened geese. ²⁴ For he was ruling over everything ^[bx]west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah even to ^(GC)Gaza, ^(GD)over all the kings ^[by]west of the River; and ^(GE)he had peace on all sides surrounding him. ^25 (GF)So Judah and Israel lived securely, everyone under his vine and his fig tree, ^(GG)from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. ^26 (GH)Solomon had ^[bz]forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ And those deputies provided food for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they allowed nothing to be lacking. ²⁸ They also brought barley and straw for the war horses and ^(GI)baggage horses to the place where it was required, each deputy according to his duty.

²⁹ Now ^(GJ)God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of ^[ca]mind, ^(GK)like the sand that is on the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ^(GL)the ^[cb]people of the east and ^(GM)all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For ^(GN)he was wiser than all other people, more than ^(GO)Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, ^(GP)Calcol, and ^[cc]Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his ^[cd]fame was known in all the surrounding nations. ^32 (GQ)He also told three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered 1,005. ³³ He told of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he told also of animals, birds, crawling things, and fish. ³⁴ People ^(GR)came from all the ^[ce]nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Alliance with King Hiram

5 ^[cf](GS)Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for ^(GT)Hiram had ^[cg]always been a friend of David. ² Then ^(GU)Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that ^(GV)David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now ^(GW)the Lord my God has secured me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor ^[ch]misfortune. ⁵ So behold, ^(GX)I ^[ci]intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ ⁶ Now then, issue orders that they cut ^(GY)cedars from Lebanon for me, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants in accordance with all that you say, for you yourself know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he greatly rejoiced; and he said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” ⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you sent me; I will do everything you wish concerning the cedar and juniper timber. ⁹ My servants will bring the timbers down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea ^(GZ)to the place where you ^[cj]direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you will carry them away. Then ^(HA)you shall do what I wish, by giving food to my household.” ¹⁰ So ^[ck]Hiram ^[cl]gave Solomon all that he wished of the cedar and juniper timber. ^11 (HB)Solomon then gave ^[cm]Hiram ^[cn]twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household, and ^[co]twenty kors of pure oil; this is what Solomon would give Hiram year by year. ¹² And ^(HC)the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He ^[cp]promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.

Conscription of Laborers

¹³ Now ^(HD)King Solomon ^[cq]conscripted forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ Then he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they were in Lebanon for a month, and two months at home. And ^(HE)Adoniram was in charge of the forced laborers. ¹⁵ Now ^(HF)Solomon had seventy thousand porters, and eighty thousand stonemasons in the mountains, ^16 (HG)besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were in charge of the ^[cr]project and ruled over the people who were doing the work. ¹⁷ Then ^(HH)the king issued orders, and they quarried large stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders and ^[cs]Hiram’s builders and ^(HI)the Gebalites ^[ct]cut the stones, and they prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.

The Building of the Temple

6 ^(HJ)Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, that is, the second month, that he ^[cu]began to build the house of the Lord. ² And the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was ^[cv]sixty cubits in its length, and twenty cubits in its width, and its height was thirty cubits. ³ The porch in front of the main room of the house was ^[cw]twenty cubits in ^[cx]length, ^[cy]corresponding to the width of the house, and its width along the front of the house was ten cubits. ⁴ Also for the house ^(HK)he made windows with artistic frames. ^5 (HL)Against the wall of the house he built stories encompassing the walls of the house around both the main room and the ^[cz](HM)inner sanctuary; so he made ^(HN)side chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story was ^[da]five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he ^[db]made offsets in the wall of the house all around so that the beams would not ^[dc]be inserted into the walls of the house.

^7 (HO)The house, while it was being built, was built of stone finished at the quarry, and neither hammer, nor axe, nor any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.

⁸ The doorway for the ^[dd]lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and they would go up by a winding staircase to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. ⁹ So ^(HP)he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and ^[de]planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He also built the stories against the whole house, each ^[df]five cubits high; and they ^[dg]were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² “As for this house which you are building, ^(HQ)if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will fulfill My word with you which I spoke to David your father. ¹³ And ^(HR)I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and ^(HS)will not abandon My people Israel.”

^14 (HT)So Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ He ^(HU)built the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the ^[dh]ceiling he paneled the walls on the inside with wood, and he paneled the floor of the house with boards of juniper. ^16 (HV)He also built ^[di]twenty cubits on the rear part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ^[dj]ceiling; he built them for it on the inside as an inner sanctuary, as ^(HW)the Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ The house, that is, the main room in front of the inner sanctuary, was ^[dk]forty cubits long. ¹⁸ There was cedar inside the house, carved in the shape of ^(HX)gourds and open flowers; everything was cedar, there was no stone visible. ¹⁹ Then he prepared an inner sanctuary inside the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ^20 [dl]The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height; and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also paneled the altar with cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he extended chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. ²² He overlaid the entire house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also ^(HY)the entire altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

^23 (HZ)And in the inner sanctuary he made two ^[dm]cherubim of olive wood, each ^[dn]ten cubits high. ²⁴ The one wing of the first cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the first cherub was five cubits; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. ²⁵ The second cherub was ten cubits; both of the cherubim were of the same measurement and the same form. ²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. ²⁷ He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and ^(IA)the wings of the cherubim spread out so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. And their wings were touching ^[do]end to ^[dp]end in the center of the house. ²⁸ He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the surrounding walls of the house with engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, for the inner and outer sanctuaries. ³⁰ And he overlaid the floor of the house with gold, for the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ And for the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel, and five-sided doorposts. ³² So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he overlaid the cherubim and the palm trees with gold.

³³ So too he made for the entrance of the main room four-sided doorposts of olive wood, ³⁴ and ^(IB)two doors of juniper wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two ^[dq]leaves of the other door turned on pivots. ³⁵ He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold plated on the carved work. ³⁶ And ^(IC)he built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

^37 (ID)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and in accordance with all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

Solomon’s Palace

7 Now ^(IE)Solomon built his own house over the course of thirteen years, and he finished all of his house. ^2 (IF)He built the house of the timber from Lebanon; its length was ^[dr]a hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars. ³ And it was paneled with cedar above the side chambers which were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. ⁴ There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window at three ^[ds]intervals. ⁵ And all the doorways and doorposts had squared artistic frames, and window was opposite window at three ^[dt]intervals.

⁶ Then he made ^(IG)the hall of pillars; its length was ^[du]fifty cubits and its width thirty cubits, and a porch was in front of them and pillars and a ^(IH)threshold in front of them.

⁷ And he made the hall of the ^(II)throne where he was to judge, the hall of judgment, and ^(IJ)it was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.

⁸ And his house where he was to live, the other courtyard inward from the hall, was of this same workmanship. ^(IK)He also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, ^(IL)whom Solomon had married.

⁹ All of these were made of valuable stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the ^[dv]coping, and from the outside to the large courtyard.

¹⁰ And the foundation was of valuable stones, large stones, stones of ^[dw]ten cubits and stones of eight cubits. ¹¹ And above were valuable stones, cut according to measure, and cedar. ¹² So ^(IM)the large courtyard all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams as well as the inner courtyard of the house of the Lord, and ^(IN)the porch of the house.

Hiram’s Work in the Temple

¹³ Now ^(IO)King Solomon sent word and had Hiram brought from Tyre. ^14 (IP)He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, an artisan in bronze; and ^(IQ)he was filled with wisdom, skill, and knowledge for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and ^(IR)performed all his work.

¹⁵ He fashioned ^(IS)the two pillars of bronze; ^[dx](IT)eighteen cubits was the height of ^[dy]each pillar, and a line of ^[dz]twelve cubits ^[ea]measured the circumference of both. ¹⁶ He also made two capitals of cast bronze to put on the tops of the pillars; the height of the one capital was ^[eb]five cubits and the height of the other capital was ^[ec]five cubits. ¹⁷ There were lattices of latticework and wreaths of chainwork for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital. ¹⁸ So he made the pillars, and two rows around on the one lattice to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and so he did for the other capital. ¹⁹ The capitals which were on the tops of the pillars in the porch were of lily design, four cubits. ²⁰ So there were capitals on the two pillars, also above and close to the ^[ed]rounded projection which was beside the lattice; and ^(IU)the pomegranates totaled two hundred in rows around ^[ee]both capitals. ^21 (IV)And he set up the pillars at the ^(IW)porch of the ^[ef]main room: he set up the right pillar and named it ^[eg]Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and named it ^[eh]Boaz. ²² On the top of the pillars was the lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished.

^23 (IX)He also he made the ^[ei]Sea of ^(IY)cast metal ^[ej]ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in shape, and its height was five cubits, and ^[ek]it was ^[el]thirty cubits in circumference. ²⁴ Under its brim ^(IZ)gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, ^(JA)completely surrounding the Sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast ^[em]with the rest. ^25 (JB)It was standing on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward. ²⁶ And it was a ^[en]hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it could hold ^[eo]two thousand baths.

²⁷ Then ^(JC)he made the ten stands of bronze; the length of each stand was ^[ep]four cubits, its width four cubits, and its height was three cubits. ²⁸ This was the design of the stands: they had borders, that is, borders between the crossbars, ²⁹ and on the borders which were between the crossbars were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the crossbars there was a pedestal above, and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. ³⁰ Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports; beneath the basin were cast supports with wreaths at each side. ³¹ And its opening inside the crown at the top was a ^[eq]cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and on its opening also there were engravings, and their borders were square, not round. ³² The four wheels were underneath the borders, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³ The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel. Their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. ³⁴ Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; its supports were part of the stand itself. ³⁵ And on the top of the stand there was a circular form ^[er]half a cubit high, and on the top of the stand its ^[es]stays and its borders were part of it. ³⁶ And he engraved on the plates of its stays and on its borders cherubim, lions, and palm trees, as there was clear space on each, with wreaths all around. ^37 (JD)He made the ten stands like this: all of them had the ^[et]same casting, ^[eu]same measure, and ^[ev]same form.

^38 (JE)And he made ten basins of bronze, ^[ew]each holding ^[ex]forty baths; each basin was ^[ey]four cubits, and on each of the ten stands was one basin. ³⁹ Then he placed the stands, five on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house; and he set the ^[ez]Sea of cast metal on the right side of the house eastward toward the south.

⁴⁰ Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished doing all the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the ^(JF)two pillars, and the two lattices to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; ⁴² and the ^(JG)four hundred pomegranates for the two lattices, two rows of pomegranates for each lattice to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴³ and the ten stands with the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴ and ^(JH)the one ^[fa]Sea and the twelve oxen under the Sea; ⁴⁵ and ^(JI)the buckets, the shovels, and the bowls; indeed, all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze. ^46 (JJ)The king had them cast in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between ^(JK)Succoth and ^(JL)Zarethan. ⁴⁷ However, Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because they were too many; ^(JM)the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

⁴⁸ Solomon also made all the furniture that was in the house of the Lord: ^(JN)the golden altar and the golden table on which was set the ^(JO)bread of the Presence; ⁴⁹ and the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary; and ^(JP)the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ also the cups, the ^[fb]shears, the bowls, the ladles, and the ^(JQ)firepans, of pure gold; and the hinges both for the doors of the inner house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the house, that is, for the main room, of gold.

^51 (JR)So all the work that King Solomon performed in the house of the Lord was finished. And ^(JS)Solomon brought in the offerings vowed by his father David, the silver and the gold and the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 ^(JT)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all ^(JU)the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(JV)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from ^(JW)the city of David, that is, Zion. ² So all the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at ^(JX)the feast, in the month Ethanim, that is, the seventh month. ³ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(JY)the priests took up the ark. ⁴ And they brought up the ark of the Lord, ^(JZ)the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were gathered together to him, ^(KA)were with him before the ark, sacrificing ^[fc]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁶ Then ^(KB)the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(KC)to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, ^(KD)under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its carrying poles from above. ⁸ But ^(KE)the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. ^9 (KF)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where ^(KG)the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And it happened that when the priests came from the holy place, ^(KH)the cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Addresses the People

^12 (KI)Then Solomon said,

¹⁴ Then the king ^[fd]turned around and ^(KM)blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ He said, “^(KN)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(KO)who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying, ¹⁶ ‘^(KP)Since the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that ^(KQ)My name would be there, but ^(KR)I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ ^17 (KS)Now it was ^[fe]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[ff]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[fg]in your heart. ^19 (KT)Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ^[fh]will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for ^(KU)I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord ^[fi]promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ And there I have set a place for the ark, ^(KV)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

The Prayer of Dedication

²² Then ^(KW)Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and he ^(KX)spread out his hands toward heaven. ²³ And he said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^(KY)there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, ^(KZ)keeping the covenant and showing faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, ²⁴ You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You ^[fj]promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ²⁵ Now then, Lord, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You have ^[fk]promised him, saying, ‘^[fl](LA)You shall not be deprived of a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful about their way, to walk before Me as you have walked.’ ²⁶ Now then, God of Israel, let Your words, please, be confirmed, ^(LB)which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.