^29 (A)And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind ^(B)like the sand on the seashore, ³⁰ so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ^(C)the people of the east ^(D)and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was ^(E)wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ^32 (F)He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, ^(G)and his songs were 1,005. ³³ He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. ³⁴ And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from ^(H)all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 ^(A)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, ^(B)the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(C)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^(D)the city of David, which is Zion. ² And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at ^(E)the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ And all the elders of Israel came, and ^(F)the priests took up the ark. ⁴ And they brought up the ark of the Lord, ^(G)the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, ^(H)sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ^6 (I)Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(J)to its place in ^(K)the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ^8 (L)And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before ^(M)the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except ^(N)the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where ^(O)the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, ^(P)a 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 Blesses the Lord

^12 (Q)Then Solomon said, “The Lord^[a] has said that he would dwell ^(R)in thick darkness. ^13 (S)I have indeed built you an exalted house, ^(T)a place for you to dwell in forever.” ¹⁴ Then the king turned around and ^(U)blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵ And he said, ^(V)“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled ^(W)what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ^16 (X)‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, ^(Y)that my name might be there. ^(Z)But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ ^17 (AA)Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. ^19 (AB)Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, ^(AC)as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ And there I have provided a place for the ark, ^(AD)in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

The Lord Appears to Solomon

9 ^(A)As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord ^(B)and the king's house and ^(C)all that Solomon desired to build, ^2 (D)the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, ^(E)by putting my name there forever. ^(F)My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ⁴ And as for you, if you will ^(G)walk before me, ^(H)as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, ^5 (I)then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ ^6 (J)But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, ^7 (K)then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, ^(L)and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, ^(M)and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ And this house will become a heap of ruins.^[a] Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ^(N)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ Then they will say, ‘Because ^(O)they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Solomon's Great Wealth

^14 (A)Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁵ besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. ¹⁶ King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels^[a] of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ And he made 300 ^(B)shields of beaten gold; three minas^[b] of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in ^(C)the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸ The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top,^[c] and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, ²⁰ while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of ^(D)the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. ²² For the king had ^(E)a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^[d]

^23 (F)Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴ And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. ²⁵ Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh,^[e] spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

^26 (G)And Solomon gathered together ^(H)chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the ^(I)chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as ^(J)the sycamore of the Shephelah. ²⁸ And Solomon's ^(K)import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price. ²⁹ A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king's traders they were exported to all the kings of ^(L)the Hittites and the kings of Syria.