Solomon Builds His Palace

7 It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.^{(A) 2} He built the Palace^(B) of the Forest of Lebanon^(C) a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high,^[a] 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.^[b]

⁶ He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide.^[c] 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,^(D) and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.^{[d](E) 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.^(F)

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^[e] and some eight.^{[f] 11} Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. ¹² The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses^(G) 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 Lord Appears to Solomon^(A)

¹¹ When Solomon had finished^(B) the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, ¹² the Lord appeared^(C) to him at night and said:

Solomon’s Other Activities^(A)

¹⁰ At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the Lord and the royal palace— ¹¹ King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold^(B) he wanted. ¹² But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ¹³ “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,^[a](C) a name they have to this day. ¹⁴ Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents^[b] of gold.^(D)

¹⁵ Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted^(E) to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,^[c](F) the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,^(G) Megiddo and Gezer.^{(H) 16} (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter,^(I) Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,^{(J) 18} Baalath,^(K) and Tadmor^[d] in the desert, within his land, ¹⁹ as well as all his store cities^(L) and the towns for his chariots^(M) and for his horses^[e]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

²⁰ There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites,^(N) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites^(O) (these peoples were not Israelites). ²¹ Solomon conscripted the descendants^(P) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate^[f](Q)—to serve as slave labor,^(R) as it is to this day. ²² But Solomon did not make slaves^(S) of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. ²³ They were also the chief officials^(T) in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

²⁴ After Pharaoh’s daughter^(U) had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.^(V)

²⁵ Three^(W) times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

²⁶ King Solomon also built ships^(X) at Ezion Geber,^(Y) which is near Elath^(Z) in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.^{[g] 27} And Hiram sent his men—sailors^(AA) who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. ²⁸ They sailed to Ophir^(AB) and brought back 420 talents^[h] of gold,^(AC) which they delivered to King Solomon.

Solomon’s Other Activities^(A)

8 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the Lord and his own palace,^{(B) 2} Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram^[a] had given him, and settled Israelites in them. ³ Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. ⁴ He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath.^{(C) 5} He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon^(D) and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities, with walls and with gates and bars, ⁶ as well as Baalath^(E) and all his store cities, and all the cities for his chariots and for his horses^[b]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

⁷ There were still people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites^(F) (these people were not Israelites). ⁸ Solomon conscripted^(G) the descendants of all these people remaining in the land—whom the Israelites had not destroyed—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. ¹⁰ They were also King Solomon’s chief officials—two hundred and fifty officials supervising the men.

¹¹ Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter^(H) up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

Solomon’s Officials and Governors

4 So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. ² And these were his chief officials:^(A)

⁷ Solomon had twelve district governors^(J) over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. ⁸ These are their names:

Solomon’s Daily Provisions

²⁰ The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand^(AD) on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.^{(AE) 21} And Solomon ruled^(AF) over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River^(AG) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.^(AH) These countries brought tribute^(AI) and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

²² Solomon’s daily provisions^(AJ) were thirty cors^[a] of the finest flour and sixty cors^[b] of meal, ²³ ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.^{(AK) 24} For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah^(AL) to Gaza, and had peace^(AM) on all sides. ²⁵ During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,^(AN) lived in safety,^(AO) everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.^(AP)

²⁶ Solomon had four^[c] thousand stalls for chariot horses,^(AQ) and twelve thousand horses.^[d]

²⁷ The district governors,^(AR) each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king’s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. ²⁸ They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

Solomon’s Wisdom

²⁹ God gave Solomon wisdom^(AS) and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand^(AT) on the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,^(AU) and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.^{(AV) 31} He was wiser^(AW) than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. ³² He spoke three thousand proverbs^(AX) and his songs^(AY) numbered a thousand and five. ³³ He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop^(AZ) that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. ³⁴ From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings^(BA) of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.^[e]