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1 Kings 5-8
New English Translation

Solomon Gathers Building Materials for the Temple

5 (5:15)[a] King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers[b] to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father’s place. (Hiram had always been an ally of David.) 2 Solomon then sent this message to Hiram: 3 “You know that my father David was unable to build a temple to honor the Lord[c] his God, for he was busy fighting battles on all fronts while the Lord subdued his enemies.[d] 4 But now the Lord my God has made me secure on all fronts; there is no adversary or dangerous threat. 5 So I have decided[e] to build a temple to honor the Lord[f] my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.’[g] 6 So now order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants. I will pay your servants whatever you say is appropriate, for you know that we have no one among us who knows how to cut down trees like the Sidonians.”

7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was very happy. He said, “The Lord is worthy of praise today because he[h] has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.” 8 Hiram then sent this message to Solomon: “I received[i] the message you sent to me. I will give you all the cedars and evergreens you need.[j] 9 My servants will bring the timber down from Lebanon to the sea. I will send it by sea in raft-like bundles to the place you designate.[k] There I will separate the logs[l] and you can carry them away. In exchange you will supply the food I need for my royal court.”[m]

10 So Hiram supplied the cedars and evergreens Solomon needed,[n] 11 and Solomon supplied Hiram annually with 20,000 cors [o] of wheat as provision for his royal court,[p] as well as 120,000 gallons[q] of pure[r] olive oil.[s] 12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. And Hiram and Solomon were at peace and made a treaty.[t]

13 King Solomon conscripted[u] work crews[v] from throughout Israel, 30,000 men in all. 14 He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. Adoniram was supervisor of[w] the work crews. 15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers[x] and 80,000 stonecutters[y] in the hills, 16 besides 3,300 officials[z] who supervised the workers.[aa] 17 By royal order[ab] they supplied large valuable stones in order to build the temple’s foundation with chiseled stone. 18 Solomon’s and Hiram’s construction workers,[ac] along with men from Byblos,[ad] did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple.[ae]

The Building of the Temple

6 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, during the month Ziv[af] (the second month), he began building the Lord’s temple. 2 The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet[ag] long, 30 feet[ah] wide, and 45 feet[ai] high. 3 The porch in front of the main hall of the temple was 30 feet[aj] long, corresponding to the width of the temple. It was 15 feet[ak] wide, extending out from the front of the temple. 4 He made framed windows for the temple. 5 He built an extension all around the walls of the temple’s main hall and Holy Place and constructed side rooms in it.[al] 6 The bottom floor of the extension was 7½ feet[am] wide, the middle floor 9 feet[an] wide, and the third floor 10½ feet[ao] wide. He made ledges[ap] on the temple’s outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls.[aq] 7 As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry[ar] were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built. 8 The entrance to the bottom[as] level of side rooms was on the south side of the temple; stairs went up[at] to the middle floor and then on up to the third[au] floor. 9 He finished building the temple[av] and covered it[aw] with rafters[ax] and boards made of cedar.[ay] 10 He built an extension all around the temple; it was 7½ feet high[az] and it was attached to the temple by cedar beams.

11 [ba] The Lord’s message came to Solomon: 12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow[bb] my rules, observe[bc] my regulations, and obey all my commandments,[bd] I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.[be] 13 I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon finished building the temple.[bf] 15 He constructed the walls inside the temple with cedar planks; he paneled the inside with wood from the floor of the temple to the rafters[bg] of the ceiling. He covered the temple floor with boards made from the wood of evergreens. 16 He built a wall 30 feet in from the rear of the temple as a partition for an inner sanctuary that would be the Most Holy Place.[bh] He paneled the wall with cedar planks from the floor to the rafters.[bi] 17 The main hall in front of the inner sanctuary was 60 feet long.[bj] 18 The inside of the temple was all cedar and was adorned with carvings of round ornaments and of flowers in bloom. Everything was cedar; no stones were visible.[bk]

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord could be placed there. 20 The inner sanctuary was 30 feet[bl] long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He plated it with gold,[bm] as well as the cedar altar.[bn] 21 Solomon plated the inside of the temple with gold.[bo] He hung golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary and plated the inner sanctuary[bp] with gold. 22 He plated the entire inside of the temple with gold, as well as the altar inside the inner sanctuary.[bq]

23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood; each stood 15 feet[br] high. 24 Each of the first cherub’s wings was 7½ feet long; its entire wingspan was 15 feet.[bs] 25 The second cherub also had a wingspan of 15 feet; it was identical to the first in measurements and shape.[bt] 26 Each cherub stood 15 feet high.[bu] 27 He put the cherubim in the inner sanctuary of the temple.[bv] Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub’s wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub’s wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub’s other wing touched the second cherub’s other wing in the middle of the room.[bw] 28 He plated the cherubim with gold.

29 On all the walls around the temple, inside and out,[bx] he carved[by] cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in bloom. 30 He plated the floor of the temple with gold, inside and out.[bz] 31 He made doors of olive wood at the entrance to the inner sanctuary; the pillar on each doorpost was five-sided.[ca] 32 On the two doors made of olive wood he carved[cb] cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold.[cc] He plated the cherubim and the palm trees with hammered gold.[cd] 33 In the same way he made doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall, only with four-sided pillars.[ce] 34 He also made[cf] two doors out of wood from evergreens; each door had two folding leaves.[cg] 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in bloom and plated them with gold, leveled out over the carvings. 36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of chiseled stones and a row of cedar beams.

37 In the month of Ziv[ch] in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign[ci] the foundation was laid for the Lord’s temple. 38 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul[cj] (the eighth month) the temple was completed in accordance with all its specifications and blueprints. It took seven years to build.[ck]

The Building of the Royal Palace

7 Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace.[cl] 2 He named[cm] it “The Palace of the Lebanon Forest”;[cn] it was 150 feet[co] long, 75 feet[cp] wide, and 45 feet[cq] high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars. 3 The roof above the beams supported by the pillars was also made of cedar; there were forty-five beams, fifteen per row. 4 There were three rows of windows arranged in sets of three.[cr] 5 All the entrances[cs] were rectangular in shape[ct] and they were arranged in sets of three.[cu] 6 He made a colonnade[cv] 75 feet[cw] long and 45 feet[cx] wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch.[cy] 7 He also made a throne room, called “The Hall of Judgment,” where he made judicial decisions.[cz] It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters.[da] 8 The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way.[db] He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.[dc] 9 All these were built with the best[dd] stones, chiseled to the right size[de] and cut with a saw on all sides,[df] from the foundation to the edge of the roof[dg] and from the outside to the great courtyard. 10 The foundation was made of large valuable stones, measuring either 15 feet or 12 feet.[dh] 11 Above the foundation[di] the best[dj] stones, chiseled to the right size,[dk] were used along with cedar. 12 Around the great courtyard were three rows of chiseled stones and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord’s temple and the hall of the palace.[dl]

Solomon Commissions Hiram to Supply the Temple

13 King Solomon sent for Hiram[dm] of Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali,[dn] and his father was a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. He had the skill and knowledge[do] to make all kinds of works of bronze. He reported to King Solomon and did all the work he was assigned.

15 He fashioned two bronze pillars; each pillar was 27 feet[dp] high and 18 feet[dq] in circumference. 16 He made two bronze tops for the pillars; each was 7½ feet high.[dr] 17 The latticework on the tops of the pillars was adorned with ornamental wreaths and chains; the top of each pillar had seven groupings of ornaments.[ds] 18 When he made the pillars, there were two rows of pomegranate-shaped ornaments around the latticework covering the top of each pillar.[dt] 19 The tops of the two pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies and were six feet high.[du] 20 On the top of each pillar, right above the bulge beside the latticework, there were 200 pomegranate-shaped ornaments arranged in rows all the way around.[dv] 21 He set up the pillars on the porch in front of the main hall. He erected one pillar on the right[dw] side and called it Yakin;[dx] he erected the other pillar on the left[dy] side and called it Boaz.[dz] 22 The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the construction of the pillars was completed.

23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.”[ea] It measured 15 feet[eb] from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood 7½ feet[ec] high. Its circumference was 45 feet.[ed] 24 Under the rim all the way around it were round ornaments[ee] arranged in settings 15 feet long.[ef] The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.”[eg] 25 “The Sea”[eh] stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward.[ei] 26 It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold about 12,000 gallons.[ej]

27 He also made ten bronze movable stands. Each stand was 6 feet[ek] long, 6 feet[el] wide, and 4½ feet[em] high. 28 The stands were constructed with frames between the joints. 29 On these frames and joints were ornamental lions, bulls, and cherubim. Under the lions and bulls were decorative wreaths.[en] 30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and four supports.[eo] Under the basin the supports were fashioned on each side with wreaths.[ep] 31 Inside the stand was a round opening that was 18 inches deep; it had a support that was 27 inches long.[eq] On the edge of the opening were carvings in square frames.[er] 32 The four wheels were under the frames, and the crossbars of the axles were connected to the stand. Each wheel was 27 inches[es] high. 33 The wheels were constructed like chariot wheels; their crossbars, rims, spokes, and hubs were made of cast metal. 34 Each stand had four supports, one per side projecting out from the stand.[et] 35 On top of each stand was a round opening three-quarters of a foot deep;[eu] there were also supports and frames on top of the stands. 36 He engraved ornamental cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the plates of the supports and frames wherever there was room,[ev] with wreaths[ew] all around. 37 He made the ten stands in this way. All of them were cast in one mold and were identical in measurements and shape.

38 He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons.[ex] Each basin was 6 feet in diameter;[ey] there was one basin for each stand. 39 He put five basins on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner.

40 Hiram also made basins, shovels, and bowls. He[ez] finished all the work on the Lord’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon.[fa] 41 He made[fb] the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, 42 the 400 pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), 43 the ten movable stands with their ten basins, 44 the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath,[fc] 45 and the pots, shovels, and bowls. All these items King Solomon assigned Hiram to make for the Lord’s temple[fd] were made from polished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in earth foundries[fe] in the region of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon left all these items unweighed; there were so many of them they did not weigh the bronze.[ff]

48 Solomon also made all these items for the Lord’s temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence,[fg] 49 the pure gold lampstands at the entrance to the inner sanctuary (five on the right and five on the left), the gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, 50 the pure gold bowls, trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the Most Holy Place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. 51 When King Solomon finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he[fh] put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and other articles) in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.

Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple

8 [fi] Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel’s elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the City of David (that is, Zion).[fj] 2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival[fk] in the month of Ethanim[fl] (the seventh month). 3 When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark. 4 The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting,[fm] and all the holy items in the tent.[fn] 5 Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered.[fo]

6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned[fp] place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim’s wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.[fq] 8 The poles were so long their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point.[fr] They have remained there to this very day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb.[fs] It was there that[ft] the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 10 Once the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 11 The priests could not carry out their duties[fu] because of the cloud; the Lord’s glory filled his temple.[fv]

12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. 13 O Lord,[fw] truly I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.” 14 Then the king turned around[fx] and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there.[fy] 15 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled[fz] what he promised[ga] my father David. 16 He told David,[gb] ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live.[gc] But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’ 17 Now my father David had a strong desire[gd] to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.[ge] 18 The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.[gf] 19 But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’[gg] 20 The Lord has kept the promise he made.[gh] I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor[gi] of the Lord God of Israel 21 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors[gj] when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon Prays for Israel

22 Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky.[gk] 23 He prayed:[gl] “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty[gm] to your servants who obey you with sincerity.[gn] 24 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David;[go] this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.[gp] 25 Now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,[gq] provided that your descendants watch their step[gr] and serve me as you have done.’[gs] 26 Now, O God of Israel, may the promise you made[gt] to your servant, my father David, be realized.[gu]

27 “God does not really live on the earth![gv] Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 28 But respond favorably to[gw] your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer[gx] the desperate prayer[gy] your servant is presenting to you[gz] today. 29 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live.[ha] May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place.[hb] 30 Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place.[hc] Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place[hd] and respond favorably.[he]

31 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false.[hf] 32 Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.[hg]

33 “The time will come when[hh] your people Israel are defeated by an enemy[hi] because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you,[hj] and pray for your help[hk] in this temple, 34 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

35 “The time will come when[hl] the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people[hm] sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you,[hn] and turn away from their sin because you punish[ho] them, 36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly[hp] you will then teach them the right way to live[hq] and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.[hr]

37 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust[hs] invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land,[ht] or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 38 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help,[hu] as they acknowledge their pain[hv] and spread out their hands toward this temple, 39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin,[hw] and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives.[hx] (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)[hy] 40 Then they will obey[hz] you throughout their lifetimes as[ia] they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.

41 “Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation.[ib] 42 When they hear about your great reputation[ic] and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds,[id] they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 43 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners.[ie] Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation,[if] obey[ig] you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.[ih]

44 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies,[ii] and they direct their prayers to the Lord[ij] toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,[ik] 45 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help[il] and vindicate them.[im]

46 “The time will come when your people[in] will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land,[io] whether far away or close by. 47 When your people[ip] come to their senses[iq] in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray;[ir] we have done evil.’ 48 When they return to you with all their heart and being[is] in the land[it] where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,[iu] 49 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help[iv] and vindicate them.[iw] 50 Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them.[ix] 51 After all,[iy] they are your people and your special possession[iz] whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace.[ja]

52 “May you be attentive[jb] to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you.[jc] 53 After all,[jd] you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession,[je] just as you, O Sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

54 When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky.[jf] 55 When he stood up, he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice: 56 “The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure[jg] just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled![jh] 57 May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us. 58 May he make us submissive,[ji] so we can follow all his instructions[jj] and obey[jk] the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors. 59 May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him,[jl] so that he might vindicate[jm] his servant and his people Israel as the need arises. 60 Then[jn] all the nations of the earth will recognize that the Lord is the only genuine God.[jo] 61 May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God[jp] by following[jq] his rules and obeying[jr] his commandments, as you are now doing.”[js]

Solomon Dedicates the Temple

62 The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. 63 Solomon offered as peace offerings[jt] to the Lord 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord’s temple. 64 That day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered there burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold all these offerings.[ju] 65 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt[jv] in the south.[jw] 66 On the fifteenth day after the festival started,[jx] he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king[jy] and then went to their homes, happy and content[jz] because of all the good the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 5:1 sn The verse numbers in the English Bible differ from those in the Hebrew text (BHS) here; 5:1-18 in the English Bible corresponds to 5:15-32 in the Hebrew text. See the note at 4:21.
  2. 1 Kings 5:1 tn Heb “his servants.”
  3. 1 Kings 5:3 tn Heb “a house for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.
  4. 1 Kings 5:3 tn Heb “because of the battles which surrounded him until the Lord placed them under the soles of his feet.”
  5. 1 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “Look, I am saying.”
  6. 1 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “a house for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.
  7. 1 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “a house for my name.”
  8. 1 Kings 5:7 tn Or “Blessed be the Lord today, who….”
  9. 1 Kings 5:8 tn Heb “heard.”
  10. 1 Kings 5:8 tn Heb “I will satisfy all your desire with respect to cedar wood and with respect to the wood of evergreens.”
  11. 1 Kings 5:9 tn Heb “I will place them [on? as?] rafts in the sea to the place where you designate to me.” This may mean he would send them by raft, or that he would tie them in raft-like bundles, and have ships tow them down to an Israelite port.
  12. 1 Kings 5:9 tn Heb “smash them,” i.e., untie the bundles.
  13. 1 Kings 5:9 tn Heb “as for you, you will satisfy my desire by giving food for my house.”
  14. 1 Kings 5:10 tn Heb “and Hiram gave to Solomon cedar wood and the wood of evergreens, all his desire.”
  15. 1 Kings 5:11 sn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.
  16. 1 Kings 5:11 tn Heb “his house.”
  17. 1 Kings 5:11 tc The Hebrew text has “twenty cors,” but the ancient Greek version and the parallel text in 2 Chr 2:10 read “20,000 baths.” sn A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so this was a quantity of about 120,000 gallons (440,000 liters).
  18. 1 Kings 5:11 tn Or “pressed.”
  19. 1 Kings 5:11 tn Heb “and Solomon supplied Hiram with 20,000 cors of wheat…pure olive oil. So Solomon would give to Hiram year by year.”
  20. 1 Kings 5:12 tn Heb “a covenant,” referring to a formal peace treaty or alliance.
  21. 1 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “raised up.”
  22. 1 Kings 5:13 sn Work crews. This Hebrew word (מַס, mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.
  23. 1 Kings 5:14 tn Heb “was over.”
  24. 1 Kings 5:15 tn Heb “carriers of loads.”
  25. 1 Kings 5:15 tn Heb “cutters” (probably of stones).
  26. 1 Kings 5:16 tc Some Greek mss of the OT read “3,600”; cf. 2 Chr 2:2, 18 and NLT.
  27. 1 Kings 5:16 tn Heb “besides thirty-three hundred from the officials of Solomon’s governors who were over the work, the ones ruling over the people, the ones doing the work.”
  28. 1 Kings 5:17 tn Heb “and the king commanded.”
  29. 1 Kings 5:18 tn Heb “builders.”
  30. 1 Kings 5:18 tn Heb “the Gebalites.” The reading is problematic and some emend to a verb form meaning, “set the borders.”
  31. 1 Kings 5:18 tc The LXX includes the words “for three years.”
  32. 1 Kings 6:1 sn During the month Ziv. This would be April-May, 966 b.c. by modern reckoning.
  33. 1 Kings 6:2 tn Heb “60 cubits.” A cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm. Measurements in vv. 2-10 have been converted to feet in the translation for clarity.
  34. 1 Kings 6:2 tn Heb “20 [cubits].”
  35. 1 Kings 6:2 tn Heb “30 cubits.”
  36. 1 Kings 6:3 tn Heb “20 cubits.”
  37. 1 Kings 6:3 tn Heb “10 cubits.”
  38. 1 Kings 6:5 tn Heb “and he built on the wall of the temple an extension all around, the walls of the temple all around, for the main hall and for the holy place, and he made side rooms all around.”
  39. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “five cubits.”
  40. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “six cubits.”
  41. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “7 cubits.”
  42. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Or “offsets” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “offset ledges.”
  43. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “so that [the beams] would not have a hold in the walls of the temple.”
  44. 1 Kings 6:7 tn Heb “finished stone of the quarry,” i.e., stones chiseled and shaped at the time they were taken out of the quarry.
  45. 1 Kings 6:8 tc The Hebrew text has “middle,” but the remainder of the verse suggests this is an error.
  46. 1 Kings 6:8 tn Heb “by stairs they went up.” The word translated “stairs” occurs only here. Other options are “trapdoors” or “ladders.”
  47. 1 Kings 6:8 tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate הַשְּׁלִשִׁית (hashelishit, “the third”) rather than MT הַשְּׁלִשִׁים (hashelishim, “the thirty”).
  48. 1 Kings 6:9 tn Heb “ built the house and completed it.”
  49. 1 Kings 6:9 tn Heb “the house.”
  50. 1 Kings 6:9 tn The word occurs only here; the precise meaning is uncertain.
  51. 1 Kings 6:9 tn Heb “and rows with cedar wood.”
  52. 1 Kings 6:10 tn Heb “5 cubits.” This must refer to the height of each floor or room.
  53. 1 Kings 6:11 tc The LXX lacks vv. 11-14.
  54. 1 Kings 6:12 tn Heb “walk in.”
  55. 1 Kings 6:12 tn Heb “do.”
  56. 1 Kings 6:12 tn Heb “and keep all my commandments by walking in them.”
  57. 1 Kings 6:12 tn Heb “I will establish my word with you which I spoke to David your father.”
  58. 1 Kings 6:14 tn Heb “ built the house and completed it.”
  59. 1 Kings 6:15 tc The MT reads קִירוֹת (qirot, “walls”), but this should be emended to קוֹרוֹת (qorot, “rafters”). See BDB 900 s.v. קוֹרָה.
  60. 1 Kings 6:16 tn Heb “He built 20 cubits from the rear areas of the temple with cedar planks from the floor to the walls, and he built it on the inside for an inner sanctuary, for a holy place of holy places.”
  61. 1 Kings 6:16 tc The MT reads קִירוֹת (qirot, “walls”), but this should be emended to קוֹרוֹת (qorot, “rafters”). See BDB 900 s.v. קוֹרָה.
  62. 1 Kings 6:17 tn Heb “and the house was 40 cubits, that is, the main hall before it.”
  63. 1 Kings 6:18 tn Heb “Cedar was inside the temple, carvings of gourds (i.e., gourd-shaped ornaments) and opened flowers; the whole was cedar, no stone was seen.”
  64. 1 Kings 6:20 tn Heb “20 cubits” (this measurement occurs three times in this verse).
  65. 1 Kings 6:20 tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).
  66. 1 Kings 6:20 tn Heb “he plated [the] altar of cedar.”
  67. 1 Kings 6:21 tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).
  68. 1 Kings 6:21 tn Heb “it.”
  69. 1 Kings 6:22 tn Heb “all the temple he plated with gold until all the temple was finished; and the whole altar which was in the inner sanctuary he plated with gold.”
  70. 1 Kings 6:23 tn Heb “10 cubits” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).
  71. 1 Kings 6:24 tn Heb “The first wing of the [one] cherub was 5 cubits, and the second wing of the cherub was 5 cubits, 10 cubits from the tips of his wings to the tips of his wings.”
  72. 1 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “and the second cherub was 10 cubits, the two cherubim had one measurement and one shape.”
  73. 1 Kings 6:26 tn Heb “the height of the first cherub was 10 cubits; and so was the second cherub.”
  74. 1 Kings 6:27 tn Heb “in the midst of the inner house,” i.e., in the inner sanctuary.
  75. 1 Kings 6:27 tn Heb “and their wings were in the middle of the room, touching wing to wing.”
  76. 1 Kings 6:29 sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.
  77. 1 Kings 6:29 tn Heb “carved engravings of carvings.”
  78. 1 Kings 6:30 sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.
  79. 1 Kings 6:31 tn Heb “the pillar, doorposts, a fifth part” (the precise meaning of this description is uncertain).
  80. 1 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “carved carvings of.”
  81. 1 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “he plated [with] gold” (the precise object is not stated).
  82. 1 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “and he hammered out the gold on the cherubim and the palm trees.”
  83. 1 Kings 6:33 tn Heb “and so he did at the entrance of the main hall, doorposts of olive wood, from a fourth.”
  84. 1 Kings 6:34 tn The words “he also made” are added for stylistic reasons.
  85. 1 Kings 6:34 tc Heb “two of the leaves of the first door were folding, and two of the leaves of the second door were folding.” In the second half of the description, the MT has קְלָעִים (qelaʿim, “curtains”), but this probably should be emended to צְלָעִים (tselaʿim, “leaves”), which appears in the first half of the statement. One Hebrew ms, the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate support צְלָעִים (tselaʿim, “leaves”).
  86. 1 Kings 6:37 sn In the month of Ziv. This would be April-May, 966 b.c. by modern reckoning.
  87. 1 Kings 6:37 tn The words “of Solomon’s reign” are added for clarification. See v. 1.
  88. 1 Kings 6:38 sn In the month Bul. This would be October-November 959 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  89. 1 Kings 6:38 tn Heb “he built it in seven years.”
  90. 1 Kings 7:1 tn Heb “His house Solomon built in thirteen years and he completed all his house.”
  91. 1 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “he built.”
  92. 1 Kings 7:2 sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.
  93. 1 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “100 cubits.”
  94. 1 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “50 cubits.”
  95. 1 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “30 cubits.”
  96. 1 Kings 7:4 tn Heb “and framed [windows in] three rows, and opening to opening three times.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain. Another option might be, “overhung [in] three rows.” This might mean they were positioned high on the walls.
  97. 1 Kings 7:5 tn Heb “all of the doors and doorposts.”
  98. 1 Kings 7:5 sn Rectangular in shape. That is, rather than arched.
  99. 1 Kings 7:5 tn Heb “and all the entrances and the doorposts [had] four frames, and in front of opening to opening three times” (the precise meaning of the description is uncertain).
  100. 1 Kings 7:6 tn Heb “a porch of pillars.”
  101. 1 Kings 7:6 tn Heb “50 cubits.”
  102. 1 Kings 7:6 tn Heb “30 cubits.”
  103. 1 Kings 7:6 tn Heb “and a porch was in front of them (i.e., the aforementioned pillars) and pillars and a roof in front of them (i.e., the aforementioned pillars and porch).” The precise meaning of the term translated “roof” is uncertain; it occurs only here and in Ezek 41:25-26.
  104. 1 Kings 7:7 tn Heb “and a porch for the throne, where he was making judicial decisions, the Porch of Judgment, he made.”
  105. 1 Kings 7:7 tc The Hebrew text reads, “from the floor to the floor.” The second occurrence of the term הַקַּרְקָע (haqqarqaʿ, “the floor”) is probably an error; one should emend to הַקּוֹרוֹת (haqqorot, “the rafters”). See 6:16.
  106. 1 Kings 7:8 tn Heb “and his house where he lived, the other court [i.e., as opposed to the great court], separated from the house belonging to the hall, was like this work [i.e., this style of architecture].”
  107. 1 Kings 7:8 tn Heb “and a house he was making for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken, like this porch.”
  108. 1 Kings 7:9 tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).
  109. 1 Kings 7:9 tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”
  110. 1 Kings 7:9 tn Heb “inside and out.”
  111. 1 Kings 7:9 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word טְפָחוֹת (tefakhot) is uncertain, but it is clear that the referent stands in opposition to the foundation.
  112. 1 Kings 7:10 tn Heb “stones of 10 cubits and stones of 8 cubits” (it is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured). If both numbers refer to the length of the stones (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT), then perhaps stones of two different sizes were used in some alternating pattern.
  113. 1 Kings 7:11 tn Heb “on top,” or “above.”
  114. 1 Kings 7:11 tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).
  115. 1 Kings 7:11 tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”
  116. 1 Kings 7:12 tn Or “the porch of the temple.”
  117. 1 Kings 7:13 tn Heb “King Solomon sent and took Hiram from Tyre.” In 2 Chr 2:13 (MT v. 12) and 4:11, 16 his name is spelled “Huram.”
  118. 1 Kings 7:14 tn 2 Chr 2:14 (13 HT) says “from the daughters of Dan.”
  119. 1 Kings 7:14 tn Heb “he was filled with the skill, understanding, and knowledge.”
  120. 1 Kings 7:15 tn Heb “18 cubits.”
  121. 1 Kings 7:15 tn Heb “12 cubits.”
  122. 1 Kings 7:16 tn Heb “two capitals he made to place on the tops of the pillars, cast in bronze; 5 cubits was the height of the first capital, and 5 cubits was the height of the second capital.”
  123. 1 Kings 7:17 tn Heb “there were seven for the first capital, and seven for the second capital.”
  124. 1 Kings 7:18 tn Heb “he made the pillars, and two rows surrounding one latticework to cover the capitals which were on top of the pomegranates, and so he did for the second latticework.” The translation supplies “pomegranates” after “two rows,” and understands “pillars,” rather than “pomegranates,” to be the correct reading after “on top of.” The latter change finds support from many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version.
  125. 1 Kings 7:19 tn Heb “the capitals which were on the top of the pillars were the work of lilies, in the porch, 4 cubits.” It is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured.
  126. 1 Kings 7:20 tn Heb “and the capitals on the two pillars, also above, close beside the bulge which was beside the latticework, two hundred pomegranates in rows around, on the second capital.” The precise meaning of the word translated “bulge” is uncertain.
  127. 1 Kings 7:21 tn Or “south.”
  128. 1 Kings 7:21 tn The name “Yakin” appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”
  129. 1 Kings 7:21 tn Or “north.”
  130. 1 Kings 7:21 sn The meaning of the name Boaz is uncertain. For various proposals, see BDB 126-27 s.v. בעז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name as בְּעֹז (beʿoz, “in strength”) and to understand it as completing the verbal form on the first pillar. Taking the words together and reading from right to left, one can translate the sentence, “he establishes [it] in strength.”
  131. 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”sn This large basin was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (2 Chr 4:6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).
  132. 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “10 cubits.”
  133. 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “5 cubits.”
  134. 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it 30 cubits all around.” The measurements are an approximation. The LXX has the number 33. Neither fit a strict calculation of the diameter time pi, but the precise details of measuring (e.g. the width of the lip or other factors) are not known and numbers may be rounded.
  135. 1 Kings 7:24 tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”
  136. 1 Kings 7:24 tn Heb “10 cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
  137. 1 Kings 7:24 tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”
  138. 1 Kings 7:25 tn Heb “It.” The proper noun “The Sea” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  139. 1 Kings 7:25 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
  140. 1 Kings 7:26 tn Heb “2,000 baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
  141. 1 Kings 7:27 tn Heb “4 cubits.”
  142. 1 Kings 7:27 tn Heb “4 cubits.”
  143. 1 Kings 7:27 tn Heb “3 cubits.”
  144. 1 Kings 7:29 tn The precise meaning of these final words is uncertain. A possible literal translation would be, “wreaths, the work of descent.”
  145. 1 Kings 7:30 tn Heb “and four its feet, supports to them.”
  146. 1 Kings 7:30 tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.
  147. 1 Kings 7:31 tn Heb “And its opening from the inside to the top and upwards [was] a cubit, and its opening was round, the work of a stand, a cubit-and-a-half.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
  148. 1 Kings 7:31 tn Heb “also over its opening were carvings and their frames [were] squared, not round.”
  149. 1 Kings 7:32 tn Heb “a cubit-and-a-half” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).
  150. 1 Kings 7:34 tn Heb “four shoulders to the four sides of each stand, from the stand its shoulders.” The precise meaning of the description is uncertain.
  151. 1 Kings 7:35 tn Heb “and on top of the stand, a half cubit [in] height, round all around” (the meaning of this description is uncertain).
  152. 1 Kings 7:36 tn Heb “according to the space of each.”
  153. 1 Kings 7:36 tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.
  154. 1 Kings 7:38 tn Heb “forty baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
  155. 1 Kings 7:38 tn Heb “4 cubits, each basin.” It is unclear which dimension is being measured.
  156. 1 Kings 7:40 tn Heb “Hiram.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  157. 1 Kings 7:40 tn Heb “Hiram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of the Lord.”
  158. 1 Kings 7:41 tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.
  159. 1 Kings 7:44 tn Heb “underneath ‘The Sea.’”
  160. 1 Kings 7:45 tn Heb “which Hiram made for King Solomon [for] the house of the Lord.”
  161. 1 Kings 7:46 tn Or perhaps, “molds.”
  162. 1 Kings 7:47 tn Heb “Solomon left all the items, due to their very great abundance; the weight of the bronze was not sought.”
  163. 1 Kings 7:48 tn Heb “the bread of the face [or presence].” Many recent English versions employ “the bread of the Presence,” although this does not convey much to the modern reader.sn This bread was viewed as a perpetual offering to God and was regarded as holy. See Lev 24:5-9.
  164. 1 Kings 7:51 tn Heb “Solomon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  165. 1 Kings 8:1 tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words at the beginning of ch. 8: “It so happened that when Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and his own house, after twenty years.”
  166. 1 Kings 8:1 tn Heb “Then Solomon convened the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers belonging to the sons of Israel to King Solomon [in] Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David (it is Zion).”
  167. 1 Kings 8:2 sn The festival. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.
  168. 1 Kings 8:2 sn The month Ethanim. This would be September-October in modern reckoning.
  169. 1 Kings 8:4 tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”sn The tent of meeting. See Exod 33:7-11.
  170. 1 Kings 8:4 tn Heb “and they carried the ark of the Lord…. The priests and the Levites carried them.”
  171. 1 Kings 8:5 tn Heb “And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel, those who had been gathered to him, [were] before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle which could not be counted or numbered because of the abundance.”
  172. 1 Kings 8:6 tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  173. 1 Kings 8:7 sn And its poles. These poles were used to carry the ark. See Exod 25:13-15.
  174. 1 Kings 8:8 tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”
  175. 1 Kings 8:9 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai.
  176. 1 Kings 8:9 tn Heb “in Horeb where.”
  177. 1 Kings 8:11 tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”
  178. 1 Kings 8:11 tn Heb “the house of the Lord.”
  179. 1 Kings 8:13 tn The words “O Lord” do not appear in the original text, but they are supplied for clarification; Solomon addresses the Lord in prayer at this point.
  180. 1 Kings 8:14 tn Heb “turned his face.”
  181. 1 Kings 8:14 tn Heb “and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing.”
  182. 1 Kings 8:15 tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his hand he has fulfilled.”
  183. 1 Kings 8:15 tn The Hebrew text reads, “he promised by his mouth.”
  184. 1 Kings 8:16 tn Heb “saying.” The word is carried over from the end of verse 15.
  185. 1 Kings 8:16 tn Heb “to build a house for my name to be there.”sn To build a temple in which to live (Heb “to build a house for my name to be there”). In the OT, the word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.
  186. 1 Kings 8:17 tn Heb “and it was with the heart of David my father.”
  187. 1 Kings 8:17 tn Heb “to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.” The word “name” in the OT sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.
  188. 1 Kings 8:18 tn Heb “Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart.”
  189. 1 Kings 8:19 tn Heb “your son, the one who came out of your body, he will build the temple for my name.”
  190. 1 Kings 8:20 tn Heb “his word that he spoke.”
  191. 1 Kings 8:20 tn Heb “name.”
  192. 1 Kings 8:21 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 34, 40, 48, 53, 57, 58).
  193. 1 Kings 8:22 tn Or “heaven.”
  194. 1 Kings 8:23 tn Heb “said.”
  195. 1 Kings 8:23 tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.
  196. 1 Kings 8:23 tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”
  197. 1 Kings 8:24 tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”
  198. 1 Kings 8:24 tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”
  199. 1 Kings 8:25 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
  200. 1 Kings 8:25 tn Heb “watch their way.” The Hebrew and English colloquialisms are similar. The related ideas “way” and “steps” represent behavior in a broad sense in each language.
  201. 1 Kings 8:25 tn Heb “guard their way by walking before me as you have walked before me.”
  202. 1 Kings 8:26 tn Heb “the words that you spoke.”
  203. 1 Kings 8:26 tn Or “prove to be reliable.”
  204. 1 Kings 8:27 tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which the translation above seeks to reflect.
  205. 1 Kings 8:28 tn Heb “turn to.”
  206. 1 Kings 8:28 tn Heb “by listening to.”
  207. 1 Kings 8:28 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
  208. 1 Kings 8:28 tn Heb “praying before you.”
  209. 1 Kings 8:29 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”
  210. 1 Kings 8:29 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
  211. 1 Kings 8:30 tn Heb “listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
  212. 1 Kings 8:30 tn Heb “and you, hear inside your dwelling place, inside heaven.” The precise nuance of the preposition אֶל (ʾel), used here with the verb “hear,” is unclear. One expects the preposition “from,” which appears in the parallel text in 2 Chr 6:21. The nuance “inside; among” is attested for אֶל (see Gen 23:19; 1 Sam 10:22; Jer 4:3), but in each case a verb of motion is employed with the preposition, unlike 1 Kgs 8:30. The translation above (“from inside”) is based on the demands of the immediate context rather than attested usage elsewhere.
  213. 1 Kings 8:30 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
  214. 1 Kings 8:31 tn Heb “and forgive the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.” In the Hebrew text the words “and forgive” conclude v. 30, but the accusative sign at the beginning of v. 31 suggests the verb actually goes with what follows in v. 31. The parallel text in 2 Chr 6:22 begins with “and if,” rather than the accusative sign. In this case “forgive” must be taken with what precedes, and v. 31 must be taken as the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, with v. 32 being the apodosis (“then” clause) that completes the sentence.sn Be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. At first it appears that Solomon is asking God to forgive the guilty party. But in v. 32 Solomon asks the Lord to discern who is guilty and innocent, so v. 31 must refer to a situation where an accusation has been made, but not yet proven. The very periphrastic translation reflects this interpretation.
  215. 1 Kings 8:32 tn Heb “and you, hear [from] heaven and act and judge your servants by declaring the guilty to be guilty, to give his way on his head, and to declare the innocent to be innocent, to give to him according to his innocence.”
  216. 1 Kings 8:33 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 33-34 actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
  217. 1 Kings 8:33 tn Or “are struck down before an enemy.”
  218. 1 Kings 8:33 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
  219. 1 Kings 8:33 tn Heb “and they pray and ask for help.”
  220. 1 Kings 8:35 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 35-36a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
  221. 1 Kings 8:35 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  222. 1 Kings 8:35 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
  223. 1 Kings 8:35 tn The Hebrew text has “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (ʿanah, “to answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (teʿannem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (ʿanah, “to afflict”).
  224. 1 Kings 8:36 tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense.
  225. 1 Kings 8:36 tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”
  226. 1 Kings 8:36 tn Or “for an inheritance.”
  227. 1 Kings 8:37 tn Actually two Hebrew terms appear here, both of which are usually taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view.
  228. 1 Kings 8:37 tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”
  229. 1 Kings 8:38 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
  230. 1 Kings 8:38 tn Heb “which they know, each the pain of his heart.”
  231. 1 Kings 8:39 tn The words “their sin” are added for clarification.
  232. 1 Kings 8:39 tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 37-39a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
  233. 1 Kings 8:39 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”
  234. 1 Kings 8:40 tn Heb “fear.”
  235. 1 Kings 8:40 tn Heb “all the days [in] which.”
  236. 1 Kings 8:41 tn Heb “your name.” In the OT the word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.
  237. 1 Kings 8:42 tn Heb “your great name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in the previous verse.
  238. 1 Kings 8:42 tn Heb “and your strong hand and your outstretched arm.”
  239. 1 Kings 8:43 tn Heb “and do all which the foreigner calls to [i.e., “requests of”] you.”
  240. 1 Kings 8:43 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
  241. 1 Kings 8:43 tn Heb “fear.”
  242. 1 Kings 8:43 tn Heb “that your name is called over this house which I built.” The Hebrew idiom “to call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
  243. 1 Kings 8:44 tn Heb “When your people go out for battle against their enemies in the way which you send them.”
  244. 1 Kings 8:44 tn Or perhaps “to you, O Lord.” See 2 Chr 6:34.
  245. 1 Kings 8:44 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
  246. 1 Kings 8:45 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
  247. 1 Kings 8:45 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
  248. 1 Kings 8:46 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  249. 1 Kings 8:46 tn Heb “the land of the enemy.”
  250. 1 Kings 8:47 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  251. 1 Kings 8:47 tn Or “stop and reflect”; Heb “bring back to their heart.”
  252. 1 Kings 8:47 tn Or “done wrong.”
  253. 1 Kings 8:48 tn Or “soul.”
  254. 1 Kings 8:48 tn Heb “in the land of their enemies.”
  255. 1 Kings 8:48 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
  256. 1 Kings 8:49 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
  257. 1 Kings 8:49 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
  258. 1 Kings 8:50 tn Heb “and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their rebellious acts by which they rebelled against you, and grant them mercy before their captors so they will show them mercy.”
  259. 1 Kings 8:51 tn Or “for.”
  260. 1 Kings 8:51 tn Heb “inheritance.”
  261. 1 Kings 8:51 tn The Hebrew term כּוּר (kur, “furnace,” cf. Akkadian kūru) is a metaphor for the intense heat of purification. A כּוּר was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19). Thus Egypt served not as a place of punishment for the Israelites, but as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.sn From the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. The metaphor of a furnace suggests fire and heat and is an apt image to remind the people of the suffering they endured while slaves in Egypt.
  262. 1 Kings 8:52 tn Heb “May your eyes be open.”
  263. 1 Kings 8:52 tn Heb “to listen to them in all their calling out to you.”
  264. 1 Kings 8:53 tn Or “For.”
  265. 1 Kings 8:53 tn Heb “your inheritance.”
  266. 1 Kings 8:54 tn Or “toward heaven.”
  267. 1 Kings 8:56 tn Heb “he has given a resting place to his people Israel.”
  268. 1 Kings 8:56 tn Heb “not one word from his entire good word he spoke by Moses his servant has fallen.”
  269. 1 Kings 8:58 tn Heb “to bend our hearts toward him.” The infinitive is subordinate to the initial prayer, “may the Lord our God be with us.” The Hebrew term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the people’s volition and will.
  270. 1 Kings 8:58 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways.”
  271. 1 Kings 8:58 tn Heb “keep.”
  272. 1 Kings 8:59 tn Heb “May these words of mine, which I have requested before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night.”
  273. 1 Kings 8:59 tn Heb “accomplish the justice of.”
  274. 1 Kings 8:60 tn Heb “so that.”
  275. 1 Kings 8:60 tn Heb “the Lord, he is the God, there is no other.”
  276. 1 Kings 8:61 tn Heb “may your hearts be complete with the Lord our God.”
  277. 1 Kings 8:61 tn Heb “walking in.”
  278. 1 Kings 8:61 tn Heb “keeping.”
  279. 1 Kings 8:61 tn Heb “as this day.”
  280. 1 Kings 8:63 tn Heb “peace offerings that he sacrificed.” “Peace offerings” could be “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”
  281. 1 Kings 8:64 tn Heb “to hold the burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.”
  282. 1 Kings 8:65 tn Or “the Wadi of Egypt” (NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “the Egyptian Gorge.”
  283. 1 Kings 8:65 tn Heb “Solomon held at that time the festival, and all Israel was with him, a great assembly from Lebo Hamath to the Stream of Egypt, before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days, fourteen days.”
  284. 1 Kings 8:66 tn Heb “on the eighth day” (that is, the day after the second seven-day sequence).
  285. 1 Kings 8:66 tn Heb “they blessed the king.”
  286. 1 Kings 8:66 tn Heb “good of heart.”
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1 Kings 5-8
New International Version

Preparations for Building the Temple(A)

5 [a]When Hiram(B) king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

3 “You know that because of the wars(C) waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build(D) a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.(E) 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest(F) on every side, and there is no adversary(G) or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple(H) for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’(I)

6 “So give orders that cedars(J) of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”

7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord(K) today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:

“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea(L), and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food(M) for my royal household.”

10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors[b] of wheat as food(N) for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths[c][d] of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom,(O) just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.(P)

13 King Solomon conscripted laborers(Q) from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram(R) was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16 as well as thirty-three hundred[e] foremen(S) who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17 At the king’s command they removed from the quarry(T) large blocks of high-grade stone(U) to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram(V) and workers from Byblos(W) cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

Solomon Builds the Temple(X)

6 In the four hundred and eightieth[f] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month,(Y) he began to build the temple of the Lord.(Z)

2 The temple(AA) that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.[g] 3 The portico(AB) at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[h] and projected ten cubits[i] from the front of the temple. 4 He made narrow windows(AC) high up in the temple walls. 5 Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.(AD) 6 The lowest floor was five cubits[j] wide, the middle floor six cubits[k] and the third floor seven.[l] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

7 In building the temple, only blocks dressed(AE) at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool(AF) was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

8 The entrance to the lowest[m] floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. 9 So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar(AG) planks. 10 And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

11 The word of the Lord came(AH) to Solomon: 12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands(AI) and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise(AJ) I gave to David your father. 13 And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon(AK) my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon(AL) built the temple and completed(AM) it. 15 He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling,(AN) and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper.(AO) 16 He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.(AP) 17 The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits[n] long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar,(AQ) carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary(AR) within the temple to set the ark of the covenant(AS) of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary(AT) was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.(AU) 21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

23 For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim(AV) out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27 He placed the cherubim(AW) inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 On the walls(AX) all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim,(AY) palm trees and open flowers. 30 He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. 32 And on the two olive-wood doors(AZ) he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33 In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. 34 He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

36 And he built the inner courtyard(BA) of three courses(BB) of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

37 The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details(BC) according to its specifications.(BD) He had spent seven years building it.

Solomon Builds His Palace

7 It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.(BE) 2 He built the Palace(BF) of the Forest of Lebanon(BG) a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high,[o] with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. 3 It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. 4 Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. 5 All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.[p]

6 He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide.[q] In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof.

7 He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge,(BH) and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.[r](BI) 8 And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.(BJ)

9 All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces. 10 The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits[s] and some eight.[t] 11 Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. 12 The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses(BK) of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the Lord with its portico.

The Temple’s Furnishings(BL)(BM)

13 King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram,[u](BN) 14 whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom,(BO) with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all(BP) the work assigned to him.

15 He cast two bronze pillars,(BQ) each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.[v] 16 He also made two capitals(BR) of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits[w] high. 17 A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. 18 He made pomegranates in two rows[x] encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars.[y] He did the same for each capital. 19 The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits[z] high. 20 On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates(BS) in rows all around. 21 He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin[aa] and the one to the north Boaz.[ab](BT) 22 The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars(BU) was completed.

23 He made the Sea(BV) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line(BW) of thirty cubits[ac] to measure around it. 24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls,(BX) three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth[ad] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.[ae]

27 He also made ten movable stands(BY) of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high.[af] 28 This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. 29 On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. 30 Each stand(BZ) had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. 31 On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit[ag] deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half.[ah] Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. 32 The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

34 Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. 35 At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit[ai] deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. 36 He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around. 37 This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

38 He then made ten bronze basins,(CA) each holding forty baths[aj] and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. 39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. 40 He also made the pots[ak] and shovels and sprinkling bowls.(CB)

So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the Lord:

41 the two pillars;

the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network decorating the bowl-shaped capitals(CC) on top of the pillars);

43 the ten stands with their ten basins;

44 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

45 the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls.(CD)

All these objects that Huram(CE) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain(CF) of the Jordan between Sukkoth(CG) and Zarethan.(CH) 47 Solomon left all these things unweighed,(CI) because there were so many;(CJ) the weight of the bronze(CK) was not determined.

48 Solomon also made all(CL) the furnishings that were in the Lord’s temple:

the golden altar;

the golden table(CM) on which was the bread of the Presence;(CN)

49 the lampstands(CO) of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary);

the gold floral work and lamps and tongs;

50 the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes(CP) and censers;(CQ)

and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

51 When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated(CR)—the silver and gold and the furnishings(CS)—and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.

The Ark Brought to the Temple(CT)

8 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs(CU) of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark(CV) of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.(CW) 2 All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival(CX) in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.(CY)

3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests(CZ) took up the ark, 4 and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting(DA) and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites(DB) carried them up, 5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing(DC) so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant(DD) to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,(DE) and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.(DF) 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed(DG) the ark and its carrying poles. 8 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.(DH) 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets(DI) that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud(DJ) filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service(DK) because of the cloud, for the glory(DL) of the Lord filled his temple.

12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;(DM) 13 I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell(DN) forever.”

14 While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed(DO) them. 15 Then he said:

“Praise be to the Lord,(DP) the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, 16 ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt,(DQ) I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name(DR) might be there, but I have chosen(DS) David(DT) to rule my people Israel.’

17 “My father David had it in his heart(DU) to build a temple(DV) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 19 Nevertheless, you(DW) are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’(DX)

20 “The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded(DY) David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built(DZ) the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication(EA)

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands(EB) toward heaven 23 and said:

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like(EC) you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love(ED) with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises(EE) you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised(EF) your servant David my father come true.

27 “But will God really dwell(EG) on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven,(EH) cannot contain(EI) you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open(EJ) toward(EK) this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name(EL) shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray(EM) toward this place. Hear(EN) from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.(EO)

31 “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath(EP) before your altar in this temple, 32 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.(EQ)

33 “When your people Israel have been defeated(ER) by an enemy because they have sinned(ES) against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple,(ET) 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain(EU) because your people have sinned(EV) against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach(EW) them the right way(EX) to live, and send rain(EY) on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

37 “When famine(EZ) or plague(FA) comes to the land, or blight(FB) or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers,(FC) or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands(FD) toward this temple— 39 then hear(FE) from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive(FF) and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know(FG) their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), 40 so that they will fear(FH) you all the time they live in the land(FI) you gave our ancestors.

41 “As for the foreigner(FJ) who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear(FK) of your great name and your mighty hand(FL) and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know(FM) your name and fear(FN) you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.(FO)

44 “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray(FP) to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.(FQ)

46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin(FR)—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive(FS) to their own lands, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead(FT) with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;(FU) 48 and if they turn back(FV) to you with all their heart(FW) and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray(FX) to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple(FY) I have built for your Name;(FZ) 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy;(GA) 51 for they are your people and your inheritance,(GB) whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.(GC)

52 “May your eyes be open(GD) to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you.(GE) 53 For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance,(GF) just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed(GG) the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

56 “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest(GH) to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises(GI) he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake(GJ) us. 58 May he turn our hearts(GK) to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, 60 so that all the peoples(GL) of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.(GM) 61 And may your hearts(GN) be fully committed(GO) to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

The Dedication of the Temple(GP)

62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices(GQ) before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated(GR) the temple of the Lord.

64 On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat(GS) of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar(GT) that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.(GU)

65 So Solomon observed the festival(GV) at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath(GW) to the Wadi of Egypt.(GX) They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66 On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good(GY) things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1-18 is numbered 5:15-32.
  2. 1 Kings 5:11 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,250 metric tons
  3. 1 Kings 5:11 Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 2:10); Hebrew twenty cors
  4. 1 Kings 5:11 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters
  5. 1 Kings 5:16 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 2:2,18) thirty-six hundred
  6. 1 Kings 6:1 Hebrew; Septuagint four hundred and fortieth
  7. 1 Kings 6:2 That is, about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 27 meters long, 9 meters wide and 14 meters high
  8. 1 Kings 6:3 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 16 and 20
  9. 1 Kings 6:3 That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verses 23-26
  10. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verses 10 and 24
  11. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 9 feet or about 2.7 meters
  12. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters
  13. 1 Kings 6:8 Septuagint; Hebrew middle
  14. 1 Kings 6:17 That is, about 60 feet or about 18 meters
  15. 1 Kings 7:2 That is, about 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 45 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high
  16. 1 Kings 7:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
  17. 1 Kings 7:6 That is, about 75 feet long and 45 feet wide or about 23 meters long and 14 meters wide
  18. 1 Kings 7:7 Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew floor
  19. 1 Kings 7:10 That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verse 23
  20. 1 Kings 7:10 That is, about 12 feet or about 3.6 meters
  21. 1 Kings 7:13 Hebrew Hiram, a variant of Huram; also in verses 40 and 45
  22. 1 Kings 7:15 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference
  23. 1 Kings 7:16 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 23
  24. 1 Kings 7:18 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts made the pillars, and there were two rows
  25. 1 Kings 7:18 Many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts pomegranates
  26. 1 Kings 7:19 That is, about 6 feet or about 1.8 meters; also in verse 38
  27. 1 Kings 7:21 Jakin probably means he establishes.
  28. 1 Kings 7:21 Boaz probably means in him is strength.
  29. 1 Kings 7:23 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters
  30. 1 Kings 7:26 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
  31. 1 Kings 7:26 That is, about 12,000 gallons or about 44,000 liters; the Septuagint does not have this sentence.
  32. 1 Kings 7:27 That is, about 6 feet long and wide and about 4 1/2 feet high or about 1.8 meters long and wide and 1.4 meters high
  33. 1 Kings 7:31 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
  34. 1 Kings 7:31 That is, about 2 1/4 feet or about 68 centimeters; also in verse 32
  35. 1 Kings 7:35 That is, about 9 inches or about 23 centimeters
  36. 1 Kings 7:38 That is, about 240 gallons or about 880 liters
  37. 1 Kings 7:40 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac and Vulgate (see also verse 45 and 2 Chron. 4:11); many other Hebrew manuscripts basins
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