The Lord Appears to Solomon

3 Solomon made an alliance^[a] with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter.^(A) Solomon brought her to the city of David^(B) until he finished building his palace,^(C) the Lord’s temple,^(D) and the wall surrounding Jerusalem.^{(E) 2} However, the people were sacrificing on the high places,^(F) because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name^(G) had not been built. ³ Solomon loved the Lord^(H) by walking in the statutes of his father David,^(I) but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁴ The king went to Gibeon^(J) to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.^{(K) 5} At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon^(L) in a dream at night.^(M) God said, “Ask.^(N) What should I give you?”

⁶ And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to your servant, my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity.^[b] You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne,^(O) as it is today.^(P)

⁷ “Lord my God, you have now made your servant king in my father David’s place.^(Q) Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership.^{[c](R) 8} Your servant is among your people you have chosen,^(S) a people too many to be numbered or counted.^{(T) 9} So give your servant a receptive heart to judge^(U) your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?” ^(V)

¹⁰ Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life^[d] or riches for yourself,^(W) or the death^[e] of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice,^{(X) 12} I will therefore do what you have asked.^(Y) I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.^{(Z) 13} In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor,^(AA) so that no king will be your equal during your entire life.^{(AB) 14} If you walk in my ways and keep my statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.”^(AC)

¹⁵ Then Solomon woke up^(AD) and realized it had been a dream.^(AE) He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant,^(AF) and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.^(AG) Then he held a feast^(AH) for all his servants.

Solomon’s Wisdom

¹⁶ Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.^{(AI) 17} One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was in the house. ¹⁸ On the third day after I gave birth, she also had a baby and we were alone. No one else^[f] was with us in the house; just the two of us were there. ¹⁹ During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. ²⁰ She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She laid him in her arms, and she put her dead son in my arms. ²¹ When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. That morning, when I looked closely at him I realized that he was not the son I gave birth to.”

²² “No,” the other woman said. “My son is the living one; your son is the dead one.”

The first woman said, “No, your son is the dead one; my son is the living one.” So they argued before the king.

²³ The king replied, “This woman says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.’” ²⁴ The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought the sword to the king. ²⁵ And the king said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

²⁶ The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion^[g](AJ) for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!”

But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two!”

²⁷ The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don’t kill him. She is his mother.” ²⁸ All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God’s wisdom^(AK) was in him to carry out justice.

Building the Temple

6 Solomon began to build the temple for the Lord in the four hundred eightieth year^(A) after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month.^{[a](B) 2} The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord^(C) was ninety feet^[b] long, thirty feet^[c] wide, and forty-five feet^[d] high.^{(D) 3} The portico in front of the temple sanctuary was thirty feet long extending across the temple’s width, and fifteen feet deep^[e] in front of the temple.^{(E) 4} He also made windows with beveled frames^[f] for the temple.^(F)

⁵ He then built a chambered structure^[g] along the temple wall, encircling the walls of the temple, that is, the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary.^(G) And he made side chambers^[h] all around.^{(H) 6} The lowest chamber was 7½ feet^[i] wide, the middle was 9 feet^[j] wide, and the third was 10½ feet^[k] wide. He also provided offset ledges for the temple all around the outside so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls. ⁷ The temple’s construction used finished stones cut at the quarry so that no hammer, chisel, or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.^(I)

⁸ The door for the lowest^[l] side chamber was on the right side of the temple. They^[m] went up a stairway^[n] to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third. ⁹ When he finished building the temple,^(J) he paneled it with boards and planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He built the chambers along the entire temple, joined to the temple with cedar beams;^(K) each story was 7½ feet high.

¹¹ The word of the Lord came to Solomon:^{(L) 12} “As for this temple you are building—if you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep all my commands by walking in them,^(M) I will fulfill my promise to you, which I made to your father David.^{(N) 13} I will dwell among the Israelites and not abandon my people Israel.”^(O)

¹⁴ When Solomon finished building the temple,^{[o](P) 15} he paneled the interior temple walls with cedar boards; from the temple floor to the surface of the ceiling he overlaid the interior with wood. He also overlaid the floor with cypress boards.^{(Q) 16} Then he lined thirty feet of the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the surface of the ceiling,^[p] and he built the interior as an inner sanctuary, the most holy place.^{(R) 17} The temple, that is, the sanctuary in front of the most holy place,^[q] was sixty feet^[r] long. ¹⁸ The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with ornamental gourds^(S) and flower blossoms. Everything was cedar;^(T) not a stone could be seen.

¹⁹ He prepared the inner sanctuary^(U) inside the temple to put the ark of the Lord’s covenant^(V) there. ²⁰ The interior of the sanctuary was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high; he overlaid it with pure gold.^(W) He also overlaid the cedar altar. ²¹ Next, Solomon overlaid the interior of the temple with pure gold, and he hung^[s] gold chains^(X) across the front of the inner sanctuary^(Y) and overlaid it with gold. ²² So he added the gold overlay to the entire temple until everything was completely finished, including the entire altar^(Z) that belongs to the inner sanctuary.

²³ In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim^(AA) 15 feet^[t] high out of olive wood. ²⁴ One wing of the first cherub was 7½ feet long, and the other wing was 7½ feet long. The wingspan was 15 feet from tip to tip. ²⁵ The second cherub also was 15 feet; both cherubim had the same size and shape. ²⁶ The first cherub’s height was 15 feet and so was the second cherub’s. ²⁷ Then he put the cherubim inside the inner temple. Since their wings were spread out, the first one’s wing touched one wall while the second cherub’s wing touched the other^[u] wall, and in the middle of the temple their wings were touching wing to wing.^{(AB) 28} He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ He carved all the surrounding temple walls with carved engravings—cherubim,^(AC) palm trees, and flower blossoms—in the inner and outer sanctuaries. ³⁰ He overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and the outer sanctuaries.

³¹ For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made olive wood doors.^(AD) The pillars of the doorposts were five-sided.^{[v] 32} The two doors were made of olive wood. He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on them and overlaid them with gold, hammering gold over the cherubim and palm trees. ³³ In the same way, he made four-sided^[w] olive wood doorposts for the sanctuary entrance. ³⁴ The two doors^(AE) were made of cypress wood; the first door had two folding sides, and the second door had two folding panels. ³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on them and overlaid them with gold applied evenly over the carving. ³⁶ He built the inner courtyard^(AF) with three rows of dressed stone^(AG) and a row of trimmed cedar beams.

³⁷ The foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid in Solomon’s fourth year in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ In his eleventh year in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month,^[x] the temple was completed in every detail and according to every specification.^(AH) So he built it in seven years.^(AI)