David’s House and Family^(A)

14 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs,^(B) stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace for him.

Rebuilding the Temple

⁷ Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters,^(A) and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs^(B) by sea from Lebanon^(C) to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus^(D) king of Persia.

³ Solomon sent this message to Hiram^[a](A) king of Tyre:

¹¹ Now Hiram^(A) king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. ¹² Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom^(B) for the sake of his people Israel.

¹³ After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives^(C) in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴ These are the names of the children born to him there:^(D) Shammua, Shobab, Nathan,^(E) Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:

¹² And Hiram added:

Preparations for the Temple

² So David gave orders to assemble the foreigners^(A) residing in Israel, and from among them he appointed stonecutters^(B) to prepare dressed stone for building the house of God.

God’s Promise to David^(A)

17 After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.^(B)”

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.