1 Kings 4:20-7:12

English Standard Version

Solomon's Wealth and Wisdom

²⁰ Judah and Israel were as many ^(A)as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. ^{21 [a] (B)}Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the ^(C)Euphrates^[b] to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. ^(D)They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²² Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors^[c] of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴ For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates^[d] from Tiphsah to ^(E)Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. ^(F)And he had peace on all sides around him. ²⁵ And Judah and Israel ^(G)lived in safety, ^(H)from Dan even to Beersheba, ^(I)every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. ^26 (J)Solomon also had 40,000^[e] stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. ²⁷ And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. ²⁸ Barley also and straw for the horses and ^(K)swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

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

Preparations for Building the Temple

5 ^[f] Now ^(T)Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, ^(U)for Hiram always loved David. ² And Solomon sent word to Hiram, ^3 (V)“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God ^(W)because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ^4 (X)But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. ⁵ And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, ^(Y)as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ ⁶ Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷ As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” ⁸ And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. ⁹ My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes ^(Z)by providing food for my household.” ¹⁰ So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, ¹¹ while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors^[g] of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000^[h] cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. ¹² And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, ^(AA)as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

¹³ King Solomon drafted ^(AB)forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴ And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. ^(AC)Adoniram was in charge of the draft. ¹⁵ Solomon also ^(AD)had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, ¹⁶ besides Solomon's 3,300 ^(AE)chief officers who were over the work, ^(AF)who had charge of the people who carried on the work. ¹⁷ At the king's command ^(AG)they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and ^(AH)the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

Solomon Builds the Temple

6 ^(AI)In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, ^(AJ)he began to build the house of the Lord. ^2 (AK)The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits^[i] long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. ³ The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house. ⁴ And ^(AL)he made for the house windows with recessed frames.^{[j] 5 (AM)}He also built a structure^[k] against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and ^(AN)the inner sanctuary. And he made ^(AO)side chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story^[l] was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

⁷ When the house was built, ^(AP)it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

⁸ The entrance for the lowest^[m] story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third. ^9 (AQ)So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, ¹² “Concerning this house that you are building, ^(AR)if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, ^(AS)which I spoke to David your father. ¹³ And ^(AT)I will dwell among the children of Israel ^(AU)and will not forsake my people Israel.”

^14 (AV)So Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, ^(AW)and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress. ^16 (AX)He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as ^(AY)the Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ The cedar within the house was carved in the form of ^(AZ)gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen. ¹⁹ The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ²⁰ The inner sanctuary^[n] was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid^[o] an altar of cedar. ²¹ And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. ²² And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. ^(BA)Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

^23 (BB)In the inner sanctuary ^(BC)he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. ²⁵ The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form. ²⁶ The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. ²⁷ He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. ^(BD)And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house. ²⁸ And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. ³⁰ The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms.

³¹ For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided.^{[p] 32} He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

³³ So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in the form of a square, ³⁴ and two doors of cypress wood. ^(BE)The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. ³⁵ On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. ^36 (BF)He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams.

^37 (BG)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.

Solomon Builds His Palace

7 Solomon was ^(BH)building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.

² He built ^(BI)the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits^[q] and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four^[r] rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. ³ And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. ⁴ There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. ⁵ All the doorways and windows^[s] had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

⁶ And he made ^(BJ)the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and ^(BK)a canopy in front of them.

⁷ And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. ^(BL)It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.^[t]

⁸ His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter ^(BM)whom he had taken in marriage.

⁹ All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. ¹¹ And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. ^12 (BN)The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and ^(BO)the vestibule of the house.