So people stopped building the city, and the Lord scattered them all over the earth.

The people had brought more than enough things to finish the work of building God’s holy place.

“‘If your land is not a good place to worship God, come over to the Lord’s land. This is where the Lord’s Tent is. You can have some of the land and live here. But don’t turn against the Lord or against us by building another altar. We already have the altar of the Lord our God at the Meeting Tent.

Hannah’s Prayer

After eating and drinking, Hannah quietly got up and went to pray to the Lord. Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the door of the Lord’s Holy Building.

Then Saul built an altar for the Lord. Saul himself began building that altar for the Lord.

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

Solomon made a peace treaty with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David. This was when Solomon was still building his palace, the Temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem.

Then Solomon and Hiram’s builders and the men from Byblos carved the stones and prepared them and the logs for use in building the Temple.

Solomon finished building the main part of the Temple and then covered it inside with cedar boards.

Then he finished building the rooms around the Temple. Each story was 5 cubits tall. The cedar beams in these rooms rested on a ledge of the Temple wall.

I will live among the children of Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never leave the people of Israel.”

He also built the building called the “Forest of Lebanon.” It was 100 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. It had four rows of cedar columns. On top of each column was a cedar capital.

All these buildings were made with expensive blocks of stone. The stones were cut to the right size with a saw and then smoothed on front and back. These expensive stones went from the foundation all the way up to the top layer of the wall. Even the wall around the yard was made with expensive blocks of stone.

God Comes to Solomon Again

So Solomon finished building the Lord’s Temple and his own palace. Solomon built everything that he wanted to build.

Hiram had sent King Solomon about 9000 pounds of gold to use in building the Temple.

All of Solomon’s cups and glasses were made of gold, and all the dishes in the building called the Forest of Lebanon were made from pure gold. Nothing in the palace was made from silver. There was so much gold that in Solomon’s time people did not think silver was important.

This is the story about how Jeroboam turned against the king. Solomon was building the Millo and repairing the wall around the city of David, his father.

When Baasha heard about these attacks, he stopped building up Ramah and went back to Tirzah.

Hezekiah listened to the messengers and then showed them all the valuable things he owned. He showed them the silver, the gold, the spices, the expensive perfume, and the building where he stored the weapons. He showed them everything in his treasuries, in his palace, and in his kingdom.

In the past the kings of Judah had built altars on the roof of Ahab’s building. King Manasseh had also built altars in the two courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. Josiah destroyed all the altars and threw the broken pieces into the Kidron Valley.

David Makes Plans for the Temple

David gave an order for all foreigners living in Israel to be gathered together. He chose stonecutters from that group of foreigners. Their job was to cut stones ready to be used for building God’s Temple.

“Solomon, I have worked hard making plans for building the Lord’s Temple. I have given 3750 tons of gold and about 37,500 tons of silver. I have given so much bronze and iron that it cannot be weighed. And I have given wood and stone. Solomon, you can add to them.

David said, “24,000 will supervise the work of building the Lord’s Temple. 6000 will be court officers and judges.

King David stood up and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. In my heart I wanted to build a place to keep the Box of the Lord’s Agreement. I wanted to build a place that would be God’s footstool. And I made the plans for building that house for God.

Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for building the Temple. They included plans for the porch around the Temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper rooms, its inside rooms, and the room for the mercy-cover.

Gifts for Building the Temple

King David said to all the Israelites who were gathered together, “God chose my son Solomon. Solomon is young and does not know all that he needs to do this work. But the work is very important. This house is not for people; this house is for the Lord God.