Preparations for Building the Temple^(A)

5 ^[a]When Hiram^(B) king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. ² Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

⁷ When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord^(A) today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon:

¹⁰ In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors^[a] of wheat as food^(D) for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths^[b][c] of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. ¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom,^(E) just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.^(F)

¹³ King Solomon conscripted laborers^(G) from all Israel—thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram^(H) was in charge of the forced labor. ¹⁵ Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, ¹⁶ as well as thirty-three hundred^[d] foremen^(I) who supervised the project and directed the workers. ¹⁷ At the king’s command they removed from the quarry^(J) large blocks of high-grade stone^(K) to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. ¹⁸ The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram^(L) and workers from Byblos^(M) cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

Preparations for Building the Temple^(A)

2 ^[a]Solomon gave orders to build a temple^(B) for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^{(C) 2} He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.^(D)

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

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:

¹² And Hiram added:

¹⁷ Solomon took a census of all the foreigners^(AA) residing in Israel, after the census^(AB) his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. ¹⁸ He assigned^(AC) 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

²⁰ There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites,^(A) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites^(B) (these peoples were not Israelites). ²¹ Solomon conscripted the descendants^(C) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate^[a](D)—to serve as slave labor,^(E) as it is to this day. ²² But Solomon did not make slaves^(F) 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.

¹⁷ Solomon took a census of all the foreigners^(A) residing in Israel, after the census^(B) his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. ¹⁸ He assigned^(C) 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(A)

6 In the four hundred and eightieth^[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month,^(B) he began to build the temple of the Lord.^(C)

² The temple^(D) that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.^{[b] 3} The portico^(E) at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,^[c] and projected ten cubits^[d] from the front of the temple. ⁴ He made narrow windows^(F) high up in the temple walls. ⁵ Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.^{(G) 6} The lowest floor was five cubits^[e] wide, the middle floor six cubits^[f] and the third floor seven.^[g] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

⁷ In building the temple, only blocks dressed^(H) at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool^(I) was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

⁸ The entrance to the lowest^[h] floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. ⁹ So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar^(J) planks. ¹⁰ And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

¹¹ The word of the Lord came^(K) to Solomon: ¹² “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands^(L) and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise^(M) I gave to David your father. ¹³ And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon^(N) my people Israel.”

Abraham Tested

22 Some time later God tested^(A) Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,”^(B) he replied.

² Then God said, “Take your son^(C), your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah.^(D) Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering^(E) on a mountain I will show you.^(F)”

³ Early the next morning^(G) Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.^(H)”

⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac,^(I) and he himself carried the fire and the knife.^(J) As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb^(K) for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide^(L) the lamb^(M) for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about,^(N) Abraham built an altar^(O) there and arranged the wood^(P) on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar,^(Q) on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife^(R) to slay his son.^{(S) 11} But the angel of the Lord^(T) called out to him from heaven,^(U) “Abraham! Abraham!”^(V)

“Here I am,”^(W) he replied.

¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God,^(X) because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.^(Y)”

¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns.^(Z) He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.^{(AA) 14} So Abraham called^(AB) that place The Lord^(AC) Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.^(AD)”

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord^(AE) called to Abraham from heaven^(AF) a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself,^(AG) declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,^{(AH) 17} I will surely bless you^(AI) and make your descendants^(AJ) as numerous as the stars in the sky^(AK) and as the sand on the seashore.^(AL) Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,^{(AM) 18} and through your offspring^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,^[c](AN) because you have obeyed me.”^(AO)

David Builds an Altar^(A)

¹⁸ On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah^(B) the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. ²⁰ When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”^(C)

²² Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen^(D) for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. ²³ Your Majesty, Araunah^[a] gives^(E) all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

²⁴ But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”^(F)

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels^[b](G) of silver for them. ²⁵ David built an altar^(H) to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer^(I) in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.