1 Kings 1-10

Common English Bible

David and Abishag

1 King David had become very old. His servants covered him with blankets, but he couldn’t stay warm. ² They said to him, “Allow us to find a young woman for our master the king. She will serve the king and take care of him by lying beside our master the king and keeping him warm.” ³ So they looked in every corner of Israel until they found Abishag from Shunem. They brought her to the king. ⁴ She was very beautiful. She cared for the king and served him, but the king didn’t have sex with her.

Adonijah’s rebellion

⁵ Adonijah, Haggith’s son, bragged about himself and said, “I’ll rule as king myself.” He got his own chariot and horses with fifty runners to go in front. ⁶ Now Adonijah’s father had never given him direction; he never questioned why Adonijah did what he did. He was very handsome and was born after Absalom. ⁷ He took advice from Joab, Zeruiah’s son, and from the priest Abiathar. They assisted Adonijah. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, the prophet Nathan, Shimei and his friends, and David’s veterans didn’t join Adonijah. ⁹ So Adonijah prepared lamb, oxen, and fattened cattle at the Stone of Zoheleth, next to En-rogel. He invited his brothers (the royal princes) and all the citizens of Judah who were the royal servants to come. ¹⁰ But he didn’t invite the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, David’s veterans, or his brother Solomon.

¹¹ Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Did you hear that Adonijah, Haggith’s son, has become king, but our master David doesn’t know about it? ¹² Let me give you some advice on how you and your son Solomon can survive this. ¹³ Go to King David and say, ‘Didn’t my master the king swear to your servant, “Your son Solomon will certainly rule after me. He will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ While you are speaking there with the king, I’ll come along and support your words.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. The king was very old, and Abishag from Shunem was serving the king. ¹⁶ Bathsheba bowed down on her face before the king.

The king asked, “What do you want?”

¹⁷ She said to him, “Your Majesty, you swore by the Lord your God to your servant, ‘Your son Solomon will certainly rule after me. He will sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ But now, look, Adonijah has become king, and my master the king doesn’t know about it. ¹⁹ He has prepared large quantities of oxen, fattened cattle, and lamb. He has invited all the royal princes as well as Abiathar the priest and Joab the general. However, he didn’t invite your servant Solomon. ²⁰ As for you, my master the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you to tell them who will follow you on the throne of my master the king. ²¹ When my master the king lies down with his ancestors, then I and my son Solomon will become outlaws.”

²² While she was still speaking with the king, the prophet Nathan arrived. ²³ The king was informed, “The prophet Nathan is here.” Then Nathan came in before the king and bowed his face to the ground. ²⁴ He said, “My master the king, you must have said, ‘Adonijah will become king after me and will sit on my throne.’ ²⁵ Indeed, today he went down and prepared oxen, fattened cattle, and lamb in large numbers. He invited all the royal princes, the generals, and Abiathar the priest. They are eating and drinking with him, and they said, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ Adonijah didn’t invite me, your servant, Zadok the priest, Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, or your servant Solomon. ²⁷ If this message was from my master the king, you didn’t make it known to your servant. Who should follow you on the throne of my master the king?”

²⁸ King David answered, “Bring me Bathsheba.” She came and stood before the king. ²⁹ The king made a solemn pledge and said, “As surely as the Lord lives, who rescued me from every trouble, ³⁰ regarding what I swore to you by the Lord, Israel’s God, ‘Your son Solomon will certainly succeed me; he will sit on the throne after me’—I’ll see that it happens today.”

³¹ Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground. She honored the king and said, “May my master King David live forever!”

³² King David said, “Bring me Zadok the priest, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son.” They came to the king, ³³ who said to them, “Take with you the servants of your masters. Put my son Solomon on my mule and bring him down to Gihon. ³⁴ There Zadok the priest and the prophet Nathan will anoint him king over Israel. Blow the ram’s horn and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ You will follow him. He will enter and sit on my throne, and so he will succeed me as king. I have appointed him to become ruler over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶ Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son, responded to the king, “Yes, may it happen as the Lord, the God of my king, says. ³⁷ Just as the Lord was with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon. May his throne be even greater than the throne of my master King David.” ³⁸ Zadok the priest, the prophet Nathan, Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and put Solomon on King David’s mule. They led him to Gihon. ³⁹ Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. They blew the ram’s horn, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ All the people followed him playing flutes and celebrating. The ground shook at their noise.

⁴¹ Adonijah and all his invited guests heard this when they had finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the ram’s horn, he said, “What’s that noise coming from the city?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, Jonathan, Abiathar the priest’s son, arrived.

Adonijah said, “Come on in! You are an honest man and will bring a good report.”

⁴³ Jonathan replied to Adonijah, “No! Our master King David has made Solomon king! ⁴⁴ To support him, the king sent along Zadok the priest; the prophet Nathan; Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son; and the Cherethites and the Pelethites. They’ve put Solomon on the royal mule. ⁴⁵ Zadok the priest and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at Gihon. They went up from there celebrating so that the city was thrown into a commotion. That is the sound you heard. ⁴⁶ There’s more: Solomon has taken over the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ The royal attendants blessed our master King David: ‘May your God make Solomon’s name better than your name. May God elevate his throne above your throne.’”

The king then worshipped on his bed ⁴⁸ and said, “Bless Israel’s God, the Lord, who today has set my son^[a] on my throne, and has allowed my eyes to see it.”

⁴⁹ Trembling with fear, all of Adonijah’s guests got up and fled, each going a different way. ⁵⁰ Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he got up and went to grab hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ Solomon was told, “Look! Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and has grabbed the horns of the altar. He’s saying, ‘King Solomon must swear to me first that he won’t execute his servant with the sword.’”

⁵² Solomon said, “If he shows himself to be an honorable person, then not a hair of his head will be harmed. But if any evil is found in him, he will die.” ⁵³ King Solomon sent word and had him brought down from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon. Solomon said to him, “Go home!”

David’s last words

2 David’s time was coming to an end. So he commanded Solomon his son, ² “I’m following the path that the whole earth takes. Be strong and be a man. ³ Guard what is owed to the Lord your God, walking in his ways and observing his laws, his commands, his judgments, and his testimonies, just as it is written in the Instruction from Moses. In this way you will succeed in whatever you do and wherever you go. ⁴ So also the Lord will confirm the word he spoke to me: ‘If your children will take care to walk before me faithfully, with all their heart and all their being, then one of your own children will never fail to be on the throne of Israel.’ ⁵ You should know what Joab, Zeruiah’s son, has done to me and what he did to the two generals of Israel, Abner, Ner’s son, and Amasa, Jether’s son. He murdered them, spilling blood at peacetime and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. ⁶ So act wisely: Don’t allow him to die a peaceful death. ⁷ As for Barzillai’s sons from Gilead, show them kindness. Let them eat with you. When I was running away from your brother Absalom, they came to me. ⁸ Now as for this Shimei, Gera’s son—a Benjaminite from Bahurim—who is with you, he cursed me viciously when I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, ‘Surely I won’t execute you with the sword.’ ⁹ But you don’t need to excuse him. You are wise and know what to do to him. Give him a violent death.”

¹⁰ Then David lay down with his ancestors and was buried in David’s City. ¹¹ He ruled over Israel forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

Solomon secures his throne

¹² Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his royal power was well established. ¹³ Adonijah, Haggith’s son, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She said, “Are you coming in peace?”

He said, “Yes. ¹⁴ I have something to say to you.”

She said, “Say it.”

¹⁵ He said, “You know how the kingdom was mine. All Israel had appointed me as their king. Then suddenly the kingdom went to my brother as the Lord willed. ¹⁶ Now I have just one request of you. Don’t refuse me!”

She said to him, “Go on.”

¹⁷ Adonijah continued, “Ask King Solomon to let me marry Abishag from Shunem—he won’t refuse you.”

¹⁸ Bathsheba said, “Okay; I’ll speak to the king for you.”

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to talk with him about Adonijah. The king stood up to meet her and bowed low to her. Then he returned to his throne and had a throne set up for the queen mother. She sat to his right. ²⁰ She said, “I have just one small request for you. Don’t refuse me.”

The king said to her, “Mother, ask me. I won’t refuse you.”

²¹ “Let Abishag from Shunem be married to your brother Adonijah,” she said.

²² King Solomon replied to his mother, “Why ask only for Abishag from Shunem for Adonijah? Why not ask for the entire kingdom for him? After all, he is my older brother and has the support of Abiathar the priest and Joab, Zeruiah’s son.” ²³ King Solomon swore by the Lord, “May God do to me as he sees fit! Adonijah has made this request at the cost of his life! ²⁴ Now, as surely as the Lord lives—the one who supported me, put me on the throne of my father David, and provided a royal house for me exactly as he promised—Adonijah will be executed today.” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son. He attacked Adonijah, and Adonijah died.

²⁶ The king said to the priest Abiathar, “Go to your fields at Anathoth, because you are a condemned man. However, I won’t kill you today because you carried the Lord’s chest in front of my father David and because you shared in all my father’s sufferings.” ²⁷ So Solomon expelled Abiathar from the Lord’s priesthood in order to fulfill the Lord’s word that was spoken against Eli’s family at Shiloh.

²⁸ Now the news reached Joab because he had supported Adonijah, though he hadn’t supported Absalom. Joab ran to the Lord’s tent and grabbed the horns of the altar. ²⁹ King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the Lord’s tent and was now beside the altar. So Solomon sent Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son, instructing him, “Go. Attack Joab!”

³⁰ Benaiah came to the Lord’s tent and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’”

Joab said, “No! I’d rather die here.”

Benaiah sent a report back to the king: “This is what Joab said and how he answered me.”

³¹ The king said to him, “Do as he said. Attack him and then bury him. In doing this, you will remove from me and from my father’s royal house the guilt over the innocent blood that Joab shed. ³² May the Lord return that bloodguilt back on his own head for attacking the two men who were better and more righteous than he was. He murdered those two with the sword: Abner, Ner’s son and Israel’s general, and Amasa, Jether’s son and Judah’s general. But my father David didn’t know about it. ³³ May the bloodguilt for their deaths return on Joab’s head and on the head of his family line forever. But may the Lord’s peace be on David, his family, and his royal house forever.” ³⁴ So Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son, went and attacked Joab and killed him.

Joab was buried at his home in the wilderness. ³⁵ In his place, the king gave leadership of the army to Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son. The king put the priest Zadok in Abiathar’s position. ³⁶ Then he sent for Shimei and said, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and stay in the city. Don’t leave to go anywhere else. ³⁷ If you try to leave, be advised that on the day you cross the Kidron Valley you will most certainly die. Your bloodguilt will be on your own head.”

³⁸ Shimei said to the king, “This is a good idea. Your servant will do just what my master the king said.” So Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.

³⁹ After three years, two of Shimei’s servants fled to the king of Gath, Achish, Maacah’s son. Shimei was informed, “Your servants are now in Gath.” ⁴⁰ Shimei saddled his donkey and went to Achish in Gath to look for his servants. Shimei then brought his servants back from Gath. ⁴¹ Solomon was told that Shimei had left Jerusalem for Gath and then returned.

⁴² The king sent for Shimei and asked him, “Didn’t I make you swear a solemn pledge by the Lord? And didn’t I swear to you, ‘If you try to leave and go anywhere, be advised that on that very day you will most certainly die’? You said to me, ‘This is a good idea. I agree to it.’ ⁴³ Why didn’t you keep your solemn promise to the Lord and the command that I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king said further, “You know quite well all the evil that you did to my father David. May the Lord return your evil on your own head. ⁴⁵ However, may King Solomon be blessed and David’s throne be secure before the Lord forever.” ⁴⁶ Then the king commanded Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son, who went and attacked Shimei, and he died.

In these ways royal power was handed over to Solomon.

Solomon first meets God

3 Solomon became the son-in-law of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, when he married Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her to David’s City until he finished building his royal palace, the Lord’s temple, and the wall around Jerusalem. ² Unfortunately, the people were sacrificing at the shrines because a temple hadn’t yet been built for the Lord’s name in those days. ³ Now Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the laws of his father David, with the exception that he also sacrificed and burned incense at the shrines.

⁴ The king went to the great shrine at Gibeon in order to sacrifice there. He used to offer a thousand entirely burned offerings on that altar. ⁵ The Lord appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”

⁶ Solomon responded, “You showed so much kindness to your servant my father David when he walked before you in truth, righteousness, and with a heart true to you. You’ve kept this great loyalty and kindness for him and have now given him a son to sit on his throne. ⁷ And now, Lord my God, you have made me, your servant, king in my father David’s place. But I’m young and inexperienced. I know next to nothing. ⁸ But I’m here, your servant, in the middle of the people you have chosen, a large population that can’t be numbered or counted due to its vast size. ⁹ Please give your servant a discerning mind in order to govern your people and to distinguish good from evil, because no one is able to govern this important people of yours without your help.”

¹⁰ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request. ¹¹ God said to him, “Because you have asked for this instead of requesting long life, wealth, or victory over your enemies—asking for discernment so as to acquire good judgment— ¹² I will now do just what you said. Look, I hereby give you a wise and understanding mind. There has been no one like you before now, nor will there be anyone like you afterward. ¹³ I now also give you what you didn’t ask for: wealth and fame. There won’t be a king like you as long as you live. ¹⁴ And if you walk in my ways and obey my laws and commands, just as your father David did, then I will give you a very long life.”

¹⁵ Solomon awoke and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem and stood before the chest containing the Lord’s covenant. Then he offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices, and held a celebration for all his servants.

Solomon and the prostitutes

¹⁶ Sometime later, two prostitutes came and stood before the king. ¹⁷ One of them said, “Please, Your Majesty, listen: This woman and I have been living in the same house. I gave birth while she was there. ¹⁸ This woman gave birth three days after I did. We stayed together. Apart from the two of us, there was no one else in the house. ¹⁹ This woman’s son died one night when she rolled over him. ²⁰ She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him on her chest and laid her dead son on mine. ²¹ When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the daylight, it turned out that it wasn’t my son—not the baby I had birthed.”

²² The other woman said, “No! My son is alive! Your son is the dead one.”

But the first woman objected, “No! Your son is dead! My son is alive!” In this way they argued back and forth in front of the king.

²³ The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead.’ The other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and my son is alive.’ ²⁴ Get me a sword!” They brought a sword to the king. ²⁵ Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two! Give half to one woman and half to the other woman.”

²⁶ Then the woman whose son was still alive said to the king, “Please, Your Majesty, give her the living child; please don’t kill him,” for she had great love for her son.

But the other woman said, “If I can’t have him, neither will you. Cut the child in half.”

²⁷ Then the king answered, “Give the first woman the living newborn. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.”

²⁸ All Israel heard about the judgment that the king made. Their respect for the king grew because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him so he could execute justice.

Solomon’s administration

4 King Solomon became king of all Israel.

² These were his officials: the priest Azariah, Zadok’s son; ³ the scribes Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha; Jehoshaphat, the recorder, Ahilud’s son; ⁴ the general Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son; the priests Zadok and Abiathar; ⁵ Azariah, Nathan’s son, who was in charge of the officials; Zabud, Nathan’s son, a priest and royal friend; ⁶ Ahishar, who was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram, Abda’s son, who was supervisor of the work gangs.

⁷ Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel. They supplied the king and his palace with food. Each would provide the supplies for one month per year. ⁸ Here are their names:

²⁰ Judah and Israel grew numerous like the sand alongside the sea. They ate, drank, and celebrated.

^21 [c] Solomon ruled over all the states from the Euphrates River through the Philistines’ land and as far as the border of Egypt. These areas brought tribute to Solomon and served him all the days of his life. ²² Solomon’s food requirements for a single day included thirty kors^[d] of refined flour; sixty kors of flour; ²³ ten head of grain-fattened cattle; twenty head of pastured cattle; one hundred sheep; as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and the best of fowl. ²⁴ He ruled over all the lands west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and over all the kings west of the Euphrates. He had peace on all sides. ²⁵ The people of Judah and Israel from Dan all the way to Beer-sheba lived securely under their vines and fig trees throughout the days of Solomon.

²⁶ Solomon had forty thousand horse stalls for his chariots and twelve thousand additional horses. ²⁷ The officials provided King Solomon and all who joined him at the royal table with monthly food rations. They left out nothing. ²⁸ Each brought their share of barley and straw for the horses and for the chariot horses, bringing it to its proper place. ²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding—insight as long as the seashore itself. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom was greater than all the famous Easterners, greater even than all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ He was wiser than anyone, more wise than Ethan the Ezrahite or Mahol’s sons: Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His reputation was known throughout the region. ³² Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs and one thousand five songs. ³³ He described the botany of trees, whether the cedar in Lebanon or the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He also described cattle, birds, anything that crawls on the ground, and fish. ³⁴ People came from everywhere to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; even the earth’s kings who had heard about his wisdom came!

Wood and stone for the temple

5 ^[e] Because King Hiram^[f] of Tyre was loyal to David throughout his rule, Hiram sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that Solomon had become king after his father. ² Solomon sent the following message to Hiram: ³ “You know that my father David wasn’t able to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God. This was because of the enemies that fought him on all sides until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ Now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side, without enemies or misfortune. ⁵ So I’m planning to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord indicated to my father David, ‘I will give you a son to follow you on your throne. He will build the temple for my name.’ ⁶ Now give the order and have the cedars of Lebanon cut down for me. My servants will work with your servants. I’ll pay your servants whatever price you set, because you know we have no one here who is skilled in cutting wood like the Sidonians.”

⁷ Hiram was thrilled when he heard Solomon’s message. He said, “Today the Lord is blessed because he has given David a wise son who is in charge of this great people.” ⁸ Hiram sent word back to Solomon: “I have heard your message to me. I will do as you wish with the cedar and pinewood. ⁹ My servants will bring the wood down the Lebanon Mountains to the sea. I’ll make rafts out of them and float them on the sea to the place you specify. There I’ll dismantle them, and you can carry them away. Now, as for what you must do for me in return, I ask you to provide for my royal house.”

¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pinewood that he wanted. ¹¹ In return, Solomon gave an annual gift to Hiram of twenty thousand kors^[g] of wheat to eat, and twenty thousand kors of pure oil for his palace use. ¹² Now the Lord made Solomon wise, just as he had promised. Solomon and Hiram made a covenant and had peace.

¹³ King Solomon called up a work gang of thirty thousand workers from all over Israel. ¹⁴ He sent ten thousand to work in Lebanon each month. Then they would spend two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the work gang. ¹⁵ Solomon had 70,000 laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the highlands. ¹⁶ This doesn’t include Solomon’s 3,300 supervisors in charge of the work, who had oversight over the laborers. ¹⁷ At the king’s command, they quarried huge stones of the finest quality in order to lay the temple’s foundation with carefully cut stone. ¹⁸ The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram, along with those of Byblos, prepared the timber and the stones for the construction of the temple.

Solomon builds the temple

6 In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month,^[h] in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel, he built the Lord’s temple. ² The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high. ³ The porch in front of the temple’s main hall was thirty feet long. It ran across the whole width of the temple and extended fifteen feet in front of the temple. ⁴ He made recessed and latticed windows^[i] for the temple ⁵ and built side rooms against the temple walls around both the main hall and the most holy place. ⁶ The lower walls were seven and a half feet wide. At the second floor the walls were nine feet wide, and at the third floor they were ten and a half feet wide. He made niches around the outside of the temple so the beams wouldn’t be inserted into the temple walls.^{[j] 7} When the temple was built, they did all the stonecutting at the quarry. No hammers, axes, or any iron tools were heard in the temple during its construction. ⁸ The door to the stairs was at the south side of the temple. Winding stairs went up to the second floor and from there to the third floor. ⁹ He completed the temple with a roof of cedar beams and cross-planks.^{[k] 10} Then he built the side rooms all around the temple. They were seven and a half feet high. He attached them to the temple with cedarwood.

¹¹ The Lord’s word came to Solomon, ¹² Regarding this temple that you are building: If you follow my laws, enact my regulations, and keep all my commands faithfully, then I will fulfill for you my promise that I made to your father David. ¹³ I will live among the Israelites. I won’t abandon my people Israel.

¹⁴ So Solomon constructed the temple and completed it. ¹⁵ He built the walls within the temple with cedar planks, paneled from the floor to the ceiling. He overlaid the floor of the temple with pine planks. ¹⁶ At the back of the temple he built thirty feet of cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling. Solomon built the inner sanctuary, the most holy place. ¹⁷ In front of this, the main hall was sixty feet. ¹⁸ The cedar inside the temple was carved with gourds and blossoming flowers. The whole thing was cedar. No stone was seen. ¹⁹ He set up the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that he could put the chest containing the Lord’s covenant there. ²⁰ The inner sanctuary was thirty feet in length, width, and height. Solomon overlaid it with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar.^{[l] 21} Solomon covered the temple’s interior with pure gold. He placed gold chains in front of the inner sanctuary and covered it with gold. ²² He overlaid the whole temple inside with gold until the temple was completely covered. He covered the whole altar that was in the inner sanctuary with gold. ²³ He made two winged creatures of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each fifteen feet high. ²⁴ The wings of the first winged creature were each seven and a half feet long. It was fifteen feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other. ²⁵ The second winged creature also measured fifteen feet. Both winged creatures had identical measurements and form. ²⁶ The height of both winged creatures was fifteen feet. ²⁷ Solomon placed the winged creatures inside the temple. Their wings spread out so that the wing of the one touched one wall and the wing of the other touched the other wall. In the middle of the temple, the wings of the two winged creatures touched each other. ²⁸ He covered the winged creatures with gold.

²⁹ Solomon carved all the walls of the temple—inner and outer rooms—with engravings of winged creatures, palm trees, and blossoming flowers. ³⁰ He also covered the floor of the temple with gold, in both the inner and the outer rooms. ³¹ He made the doors of the inner sanctuary from olive wood and carved the doorframes with five recesses.^{[m] 32} He overlaid the two olive-wood doors with gold-plated carvings of winged creatures, palm trees, and blossoming flowers. ³³ He made the door of the main hall with doorframes of olive wood with four recesses.^{[n] 34} The two doors of pinewood each pivoted on a socket. ³⁵ Solomon carved winged creatures, palm trees, and blossoming flowers, and covered them with gold. ³⁶ He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone followed by one row of trimmed cedar.

³⁷ Solomon laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple in the fourth year in the month of Ziv.^{[o] 38} He finished the temple in all its details and measurements in the eleventh year during the eighth month, the month of Bul.^[p] He built it in seven years.

Solomon builds palaces

7 Now as for Solomon’s palace, it took thirteen years for him to complete its construction. ² He built the Forest of Lebanon Palace one hundred fifty feet in length, seventy-five feet in width, and forty-five feet in height. It had four rows of cedar columns with cedar engravings above the columns. ³ The palace’s cedar roof stood above forty-five beams resting on the columns, fifteen beams to each row. ⁴ Three sets of window frames faced each other. ⁵ All the doorframes were rectangular, facing each other in three sets. ⁶ He made a porch with columns that was seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet wide. Another porch was in front of these with roofed columns in front of them.^{[q] 7} He made the throne room the Hall of Justice, where he would judge. It was covered with cedar from the lower to the upper levels. ⁸ The royal residence where Solomon lived was behind this hall. It had a similar design. Solomon also made a similar palace for his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter. ⁹ He built all these with the best stones cut to size, sawed with saws, back and front, from the foundation to the highest points and from the outer boundary to the great courtyard. ¹⁰ The foundation was laid with large stones of high quality, some of fifteen feet and some of twelve feet. ¹¹ Above them were high-quality stones cut to measure, as well as cedar. ¹² The surrounding great courtyard had three rows of cut stones and a row of trimmed cedar just like the inner courtyard of the Lord’s temple and its porch.

Solomon’s temple equipment

¹³ Then King Solomon sent a message and brought Hiram from Tyre. ¹⁴ Hiram’s mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father was a Tyrian skilled in bronze work. He was amazingly skillful in the techniques and knowledge for doing all kinds of work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.

¹⁵ He^[r] cast two bronze pillars. Each one was twenty-seven feet high and required a cord of eighteen feet to reach around it.^{[s] 16} He made two capitals of cast bronze for the tops of the columns. They were each seven and a half feet high. ¹⁷ He made an intricate network of chains for the capitals on top of the columns, seven for each capital. ¹⁸ He made the pillars and two rows of pomegranates for each network to adorn each of the capitals. ¹⁹ The capitals on top of the columns in the porch were made like lilies, each six feet high. ²⁰ Above the round-shaped part and next to the network were two hundred pomegranates. These were placed in rows around both of the capitals on top of the columns. ²¹ He set up the columns at the temple’s porch. He named the south column Jachin. The north column he named Boaz. ²² After putting the lily shapes on top of the columns, he was finished with the columns.

²³ He also made a tank of cast metal called the Sea. It was circular in shape, fifteen feet from rim to rim, seven and a half feet high, forty-five feet in circumference. ²⁴ Under the rim were two rows of gourds completely encircling it, ten every eighteen inches, each cast in its mold. ²⁵ The Sea rested on twelve oxen with their backs toward the center, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. ²⁶ The Sea was as thick as the width of a hand. Its rim was shaped like a cup or an open lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.^[t]

²⁷ He also made ten bronze stands. Each was six feet long, six feet wide, and four and a half feet high. ²⁸ This is how each stand was made: There were panels connected between the legs. ²⁹ Lions, bulls, and winged otherworldly creatures appeared on the panels between the legs. On the legs above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths on panels hanging off the stands. ³⁰ There were four bronze wheels with bronze axles for each stand. There were four feet and supports cast for each basin with wreaths on their sides.^{[u] 31} Inside the bowl was an opening eighteen inches deep. The opening was round, measuring twenty-seven inches, with engravings. The panels of the stands were square rather than round. ³² There were four wheels beneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. Each wheel was twenty-seven inches in height. ³³ The construction of the wheels resembled chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all made of cast metal. ³⁴ There was a handle on each of the four corners of every stand, projecting from the side of the stand. ³⁵ The top of the stand had a band running around the perimeter that was nine inches deep. The stand had its own supports and panels. ³⁶ On the surfaces of the supports and panels he carved winged otherworldly creatures, lions, and palm trees with wreaths everywhere.^{[v] 37} In this manner he made ten stands, each one cast in a single mold of the same size and shape.

³⁸ He made ten bronze washbasins, each able to hold forty baths.^[w] Every washbasin was six feet across, and there was one for each of the ten stands. ³⁹ He placed five stands on the south of the temple and five on the north of the temple. He placed the Sea at the southeast corner of the temple.

⁴⁰ Hiram made the basins, shovels, and bowls.

And so Hiram finished his work on the Lord’s temple for King Solomon:

All the equipment that Hiram made for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple was made from polished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king cast it in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Due to the very large number of objects, Solomon didn’t even try to weigh the bronze.

⁴⁸ Solomon also made all the equipment for the Lord’s temple: the gold altar; the gold table for the bread of the presence; ⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right and five on the left in front of the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers of pure gold; and the gold sockets for the doors to the most holy place and for the doors to the main hall. ⁵¹ When all King Solomon’s work on the Lord’s temple was finished, he brought the silver, gold, and all the objects his father David had dedicated and put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.

Solomon dedicates the temple

8 Then Solomon assembled Israel’s elders, all the tribal leaders, and the chiefs of Israel’s clans at Jerusalem to bring up the chest containing the Lord’s covenant from David’s City Zion. ² Everyone in Israel assembled before King Solomon in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim,^[x] during the festival. ³ When all of Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests picked up the chest. ⁴ They brought the Lord’s chest, the meeting tent, and all the holy equipment that was in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up, ⁵ while King Solomon and the entire Israelite assembly that had joined him before the chest sacrificed countless sheep and oxen. ⁶ The priests brought the chest containing the Lord’s covenant to its designated spot beneath the wings of the winged creatures in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the most holy place. ⁷ The winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the chest rested, covering the chest and its carrying poles. ⁸ The carrying poles were so long that their tips could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, though they weren’t visible from outside. They are still there today. ⁹ Nothing was in the chest except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there while at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt. ¹⁰ When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple, ¹¹ and the priests were unable to carry out their duties due to the cloud because the Lord’s glory filled the Lord’s temple.

¹² Then Solomon said, “The Lord said that he would live in a dark cloud, ¹³ but I have indeed built you a lofty temple as a place where you can live forever.” ¹⁴ The king turned around, and while the entire assembly of Israel was standing there, he blessed them, ¹⁵ saying, “Bless Israel’s God, the Lord, who spoke directly to my father David and now has kept his promise: ¹⁶ ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt I haven’t selected a city from any Israelite tribe as a site for the building of a temple for my name. But now I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ ¹⁷ My father David wanted to build a temple for the name of the Lord, Israel’s God.

¹⁸ “But the Lord said to my father David, ‘It is very good that you thought to build a temple for my name. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, you yourself won’t build that temple. Instead, your very own son will build the temple for my name.’ ²⁰ The Lord has kept his promise—I have succeeded my father David on Israel’s throne just as the Lord said, and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, Israel’s God. ²¹ There I’ve placed the chest that contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

²² Solomon stood before the Lord’s altar in front of the entire Israelite assembly and, spreading out his hands toward the sky, ²³ he said:

⁵⁴ As soon as Solomon finished praying and making these requests to the Lord, he got up from before the Lord’s altar, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out to heaven. ⁵⁵ He stood up and blessed the whole Israelite assembly in a loud voice: ⁵⁶ “May the Lord be blessed! He has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. He hasn’t neglected any part of the good promise he made through his servant Moses. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us. ⁵⁸ May he draw our hearts to him to walk in all his ways and observe his commands, his laws, and his judgments that he gave our ancestors. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine that I have cried out before the Lord remain near to the Lord our God day and night so that he may do right by his servant and his people Israel for each day’s need, ⁶⁰ and so that all the earth’s peoples may know that the Lord is God. There is no other God! ⁶¹ Now may you be committed to the Lord our God with all your heart by following his laws and observing his commands, just as you are doing right now.”

⁶² Then the king and all Israel with him sacrificed to the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered well-being sacrifices to the Lord: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep when the king and all Israel dedicated the Lord’s temple. ⁶⁴ On that day the king made holy the middle of the courtyard in front of the Lord’s temple. He had to offer the entirely burned offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of well-being sacrifices there, because the bronze altar that was in the Lord’s presence was too small to contain the entirely burned offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the well-being sacrifices. ⁶⁵ At that time Solomon, together with all Israel, held a celebration. It was a large assembly from Lebo-hamath to the border of Egypt. They celebrated for seven days and then for another seven days in the presence of the Lord our God: fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day,^[ad] Solomon dismissed the people. They blessed the king and went back to their tents happy and pleased about all the good that the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.

Solomon again meets God

9 Now once Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and everything else he wanted to accomplish, ² the Lord appeared to him a second time in the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your cry to me. I have set apart this temple that you built, to put my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. ⁴ As for you, if you walk before me just as your father David did, with complete dedication and honesty, and if you do all that I have commanded, and keep my regulations and case laws, ⁵ then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David, ‘You will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ ⁶ However, if you or your sons turn away from following me and don’t observe the commands and regulations that I gave you, and go to serve other gods, and worship them, ⁷ then I will remove Israel from the land I gave them and I will reject the temple that I dedicated for my name. Israel will become a joke, insulted by everyone. ⁸ Everyone who passes by this temple, so lofty now,^[ae] will be shocked and will whistle, wondering, Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and this temple? ⁹ The answer will come: Because they deserted the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt’s land. They embraced other gods, worshipping and serving them. That is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.”

Solomon’s buildings and prosperity

¹⁰ It took twenty years for Solomon to build the two structures, the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. ¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre gave Solomon all the cedar, pinewood, and gold that he wanted. Then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee. ¹² Hiram went from Tyre to inspect the towns Solomon had given him. They didn’t seem adequate in his view. ¹³ So Hiram remarked, “My brother, are these towns you’ve given me good for anything?” The cities are thus called the land of Cabul to this very day. ¹⁴ But Hiram sent the king one hundred twenty gold kikkars, nevertheless.

¹⁵ This is the story of the labor gang that King Solomon put together to build the Lord’s temple and his own palace, as well as the stepped structure, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer: (¹⁶ Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, had attacked and captured Gezer, setting it on fire. He killed the Canaanites who lived in the city and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.) ¹⁷ Solomon built Gezer, Lower Beth-horon, ¹⁸ Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness (within the land), ¹⁹ along with all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, as well as the cities used for storing chariots and cavalry and whatever he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his kingdom. ²⁰ Any non-Israelite people who remained of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites— ²¹ that is, the descendants of such people who were still in the land because the Israelites weren’t able to wipe them out—Solomon forced into the labor gangs that are still in existence today. ²² However, Solomon didn’t force the Israelites to work as slaves; instead, they became warriors, his servants, his leaders, his officers, and those in charge of his chariots and cavalry.

²³ These were the chief officers over Solomon’s work: five hundred fifty had charge of the people who did the work. ²⁴ When Pharaoh’s daughter went up from David’s City to the palace he had built for her, Solomon built the stepped structure. ²⁵ Three times a year Solomon would offer entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices on the altar that he had built for the Lord. Along with this he would burn incense to the Lord. In this way, he completed the temple.^{[af] 26} King Solomon built a fleet near Eloth in Ezion-geber, on the coast of the Reed Sea^[ag] in the land of Edom. ²⁷ Hiram sent his expert sailors on the fleet along with Solomon’s workers. ²⁸ They went to Ophir for four hundred twenty kikkars of gold, which they brought back to King Solomon.

Queen of Sheba

10 When the queen of Sheba heard reports about Solomon, due to the Lord’s name,^[ah] she came to test him with riddles. ² Accompanying her to Jerusalem was a huge entourage with camels carrying spices, a large amount of gold, and precious stones. After she arrived, she told Solomon everything that was on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for him to answer. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw how wise Solomon was, the palace he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the servants’ quarters, the function and dress of his attendants, his cupbearers, and the entirely burned offerings that he offered at the Lord’s temple, it took her breath away.

⁶ “The report I heard about your deeds and wisdom when I was still at home is true,” she said to the king. ⁷ “I didn’t believe it until I came and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, the half of it wasn’t even told to me! You have far more wisdom and wealth than I was told. ⁸ Your people and these servants who continually serve you and get to listen to your wisdom are truly happy! ⁹ Bless the Lord your God because he was pleased to place you on Israel’s throne. Because the Lord loved Israel with an eternal love, the Lord made you king to uphold justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰ The queen gave the king one hundred twenty kikkars of gold, a great quantity of spice, and precious stones. Never again has so much spice come to Israel as when the queen of Sheba gave this gift to King Solomon. ¹¹ Hiram’s fleet went to Ophir and brought back gold, much almug wood, and precious stones. ¹² The king used the almug wood to make parapets for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace as well as lyres and harps for the musicians. To this day, that much almug wood hasn’t come into or been seen in Israel. ¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and all that she had asked for, in addition to what he had already given her from his own personal funds. Then she and her servants returned to her homeland.

Solomon’s wealth

¹⁴ Solomon received an annual income of six hundred sixty-six kikkars of gold, ¹⁵ not including income from the traders, the merchants and their profits, all the Arabian kings, and the officials of the land. ¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred body-sized shields of hammered gold, using fifteen pounds^[ai] of gold in each shield, ¹⁷ and three hundred small shields of hammered gold, using sixty ounces^[aj] of gold in each shield. The king placed these in the Forest of Lebanon Palace.

¹⁸ The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with pure gold. ¹⁹ Six steps led up to the throne, and the back of the throne was rounded at the top. Two lions stood beside the armrests on both sides of the throne. ²⁰ Another twelve lions stood on both sides of the six steps. No other kingdom had anything like this. ²¹ All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the items in the Forest of Lebanon Palace were made of pure gold, not silver, since even silver wasn’t considered good enough in Solomon’s time! ²² The royal fleet of Tarshish-style ships was at sea with Hiram’s fleet, returning once every three years with gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.^[ak]

²³ King Solomon far exceeded all the earth’s kings in wealth and wisdom, ²⁴ and so the whole earth wanted an audience with Solomon in order to hear his God-given wisdom. ²⁵ Year after year they came with tribute: objects of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁶ Solomon acquired more and more chariots and horses until he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses that he kept in chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ In Jerusalem, the king made silver as common as stones and cedar as plentiful as sycamore trees that grow in the foothills. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue, purchased from Kue by the king’s agents at the going price. ²⁹ They would import a chariot from Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty, and then export them to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.