1 Kings 4-6

Authorized (King James) Version

4 So king Solomon was king over all Israel. ² And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest, ³ Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder. ⁴ And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests: ⁵ and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king’s friend: ⁶ and Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.

⁷ And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision. ⁸ And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim: ⁹  the son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan: ¹⁰  the son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher: ¹¹  the son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife: ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam: ¹³  the son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars: ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim: ¹⁵ Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife: ¹⁶ Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth: ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar: ¹⁸ Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin: ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land.

²⁰ Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry. ²¹ And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²² And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl. ²⁴ For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. ²⁵ And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

²⁶ And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. ²⁸ Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. ³⁰ And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. ³² And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. ³³ And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. ³⁴ And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

5 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. ² And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, ³ Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. ⁵ And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name. ⁶ Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.

⁷ And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. ⁸ And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. ⁹ My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household. ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. ¹¹ And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. ¹² And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

¹³ And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy. ¹⁵ And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains; ¹⁶ beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work. ¹⁷ And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. ¹⁸ And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.

6 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. ² And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. ³ And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. ⁴ And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.

⁵ And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about: ⁶ the nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. ⁷ And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. ⁸ The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third. ⁹ So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰ And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

¹¹ And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father: ¹³ and I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house, and finished it. ¹⁵ And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. ¹⁶ And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place. ¹⁷ And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. ¹⁹ And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ²⁰ And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. ²² And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.

²³ And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. ²⁵ And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. ²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. ²⁷ And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. ²⁸ And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. ²⁹ And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. ³⁰ And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

³¹ And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall. ³² The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees. ³³ So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall. ³⁴ And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. ³⁵ And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

³⁶ And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.

³⁷ In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Zif: ³⁸ and in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.