Furnishings of the Temple^(A)

4 Moreover he made ^(B)a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

^2 (C)Then he made the ^[a]Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. ^3 (D)And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast. ⁴ It stood on twelve ^(E)oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. ⁵ It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained ^[b]three thousand baths.

⁶ He also made ^(F)ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the ^[c]Sea was for the ^(G)priests to wash in. ^7 (H)And he made ten lampstands of gold ^(I)according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ^8 (J)He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred ^(K)bowls of gold.

⁹ Furthermore ^(L)he made the court of the priests, and the ^(M)great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze. ^10 (N)He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.

¹¹ Then ^(O)Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God: ¹² the two pillars and ^(P)the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars; ^13 (Q)four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars); ¹⁴ he also made ^(R)carts and the lavers on the carts; ¹⁵ one Sea and twelve oxen under it; ¹⁶ also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles ^(S)Huram his ^[d]master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

¹⁷ In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and ^[e]Zeredah. ^18 (T)And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

¹⁹ Thus ^(U)Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was ^(V)the showbread; ²⁰ the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn ^(W)in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary, ²¹ with ^(X)the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold; ²² the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the ^[f]sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

5 So ^(Y)all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

The Ark Brought into the Temple^(Z)

^2 (AA)Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up ^(AB)from the City of David, which is Zion. ^3 (AC)Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king ^(AD)at the feast, which was in the seventh month. ⁴ So all the elders of Israel came, and the ^(AE)Levites took up the ark. ⁵ Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁶ Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. ⁷ Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the ^(AF)inner sanctuary of the ^[g]temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ⁹ The poles extended so that the ends of the ^(AG)poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And ^[h]they are there to this day. ¹⁰ Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses ^(AH)put there at Horeb, ^[i]when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.

¹¹ And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had ^[j]sanctified themselves, without keeping to their ^(AI)divisions), ^12 (AJ)and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, ^(AK)and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets— ¹³ indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:

that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not ^[k]continue ministering because of the cloud; ^(AM)for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

6 Then ^(AN)Solomon spoke:

Solomon’s Speech upon Completion of the Work^(AQ)

³ Then the king turned around and ^(AR)blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ⁴ And he said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, ^(AS)saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. ^6 (AT)Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I ^(AU)have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ⁷ Now ^(AV)it was in the heart of my father David to build a ^[l]temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My ^(AW)name.’ ¹⁰ So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and ^(AX)sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹¹ And there I have put the ark, ^(AY)in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with the children of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication^(AZ)

^12 (BA)Then ^[m]Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands ¹³ (for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven); ¹⁴ and he said: “Lord God of Israel, ^(BB)there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your ^(BC)covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. ^15 (BD)You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ^(BE)‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, ^(BF)only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’ ¹⁷ And now, O Lord God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.

¹⁸ “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? ^(BG)Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this ^[n]temple which I have built! ¹⁹ Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You: ²⁰ that Your eyes may be ^(BH)open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes ^(BI)toward this place. ²¹ And may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, ^(BJ)forgive.

²² “If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an ^(BK)oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, ²³ then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his ^(BL)righteousness.

²⁴ “Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an ^(BM)enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.

²⁶ “When the ^(BN)heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

²⁸ “When there ^(BO)is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever ^(BP)sickness there is; ²⁹ whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: ³⁰ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone ^(BQ)know the ^(BR)hearts of the sons of men), ³¹ that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

³² “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, ^(BS)who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple; ³³ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that ^[o]this temple which I have built is called by Your name.

³⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

³⁶ “When they sin against You (for there is ^(BT)no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them ^(BU)captive to a land far or near; ³⁷ yet when they ^[p]come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’; ³⁸ and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the ^(BV)city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name: ³⁹ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. ⁴⁰ Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be ^(BW)open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.

Solomon Dedicates the Temple^(CB)

7 When ^(CC)Solomon had finished praying, ^(CD)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and ^(CE)the glory of the Lord filled the ^[q]temple. ^2 (CF)And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. ³ When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:

^4 (CI)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ^6 (CJ)And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their ^[r]ministry. ^(CK)The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.

⁷ Furthermore ^(CL)Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.

^8 (CM)At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly ^(CN)from the entrance of Hamath to ^(CO)the^[s] Brook of Egypt. ⁹ And on the eighth day they held a ^(CP)sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. ^10 (CQ)On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel. ¹¹ Thus ^(CR)Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house.

God’s Second Appearance to Solomon^(CS)

¹² Then the Lord ^(CT)appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, ^(CU)and have chosen this ^(CV)place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ^13 (CW)When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are ^(CX)called by My name will ^(CY)humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, ^(CZ)then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now ^(DA)My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For now ^(DB)I have chosen and ^[t]sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and ^[u]My eyes and ^[v]My heart will be there perpetually. ^17 (DC)As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, ¹⁸ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ^(DD)‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’

^19 (DE)“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, ^20 (DF)then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have ^[w]sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a ^(DG)byword among all peoples.

²¹ “And as for ^(DH)this ^[x]house, which ^[y]is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be ^(DI)astonished and say, ^(DJ)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ ²² Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”

Solomon’s Additional Achievements^(DK)

8 It ^(DL)came to pass at the end of ^(DM)twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, ² that the cities which ^[z]Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. ³ And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. ^4 (DN)He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in ^(DO)Hamath. ⁵ He built Upper Beth Horon and ^(DP)Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, ⁶ also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon ^(DQ)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

^7 (DR)All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— ⁸ that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make the children of Israel ^[aa]servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. ¹⁰ And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: ^(DS)two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.

¹¹ Now Solomon ^(DT)brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the vestibule, ¹³ according to the ^(DU)daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the ^(DV)three appointed yearly ^(DW)feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁴ And, according to the ^[ab]order of David his father, he appointed the ^(DX)divisions of the priests for their service, ^(DY)the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the ^(DZ)gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. ¹⁵ They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the ^(EA)treasuries.

¹⁶ Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered ^[ac]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(EB)Ezion Geber and ^[ad]Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. ^18 (EC)And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to ^(ED)Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon^(EE)

9 Now ^(EF)when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ² So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her. ³ And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁴ the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his ^(EG)cupbearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.

⁵ Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶ However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard. ⁷ Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has ^(EH)loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

⁹ And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰ Also, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, ^(EI)who brought gold from Ophir, brought ^[ae]algum wood and precious stones. ¹¹ And the king made walkways of the ^[af]algum wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers; and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth^(EJ)

^13 (EK)The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁴ besides what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. ¹⁶ He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; ^[ag]three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the ^(EL)House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne; there were ^[ah]armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. ¹⁹ Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

²⁰ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. ²¹ For the king’s ships went to ^(EM)Tarshish with the servants of ^[ai]Hiram. Once every three years the ^[aj]merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and ^[ak]monkeys.

²² So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁴ Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, ^(EN)armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.

²⁵ Solomon ^(EO)had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.

^26 (EP)So he reigned over all the kings ^(EQ)from ^[al]the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. ^27 (ER)The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees ^(ES)as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. ^28 (ET)And they brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.

Death of Solomon^(EU)

^29 (EV)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of ^(EW)Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of ^(EX)Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ^30 (EY)Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ³¹ Then Solomon ^[am]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Adonijah Presumes to Be King

1 Now King David was ^(A)old, ^[a]advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm. ² Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her ^[b]stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.” ³ So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found ^(B)Abishag the ^(C)Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.

⁵ Then ^(D)Adonijah the ^[c]son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will ^[d]be king”; and ^(E)he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶ (And his father had not ^[e]rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” He was also very good-looking. ^(F)His mother had borne him after Absalom.) ⁷ Then he conferred with ^(G)Joab the son of Zeruiah and with ^(H)Abiathar the priest, and ^(I)they followed and helped Adonijah. ⁸ But ^(J)Zadok the priest, ^(K)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, ^(L)Nathan the prophet, ^(M)Shimei, Rei, and ^(N)the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.

⁹ And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of ^[f]Zoheleth, which is by ^(O)En Rogel;^[g] he also invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. ¹⁰ But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or ^(P)Solomon his brother.

¹¹ So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of ^(Q)Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it? ¹² Come, please, let me now give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, ^(R)“Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ Then, while you are still talking there with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) ¹⁶ And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, “What is your wish?”

¹⁷ Then she said to him, “My lord, ^(S)you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ So now, look! Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know about it. ^19 (T)He has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army; but Solomon your servant he has not invited. ²⁰ And as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king ^(U)rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.”

²² And just then, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. ²³ So they told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. ²⁴ And Nathan said, “My lord, O king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ^25 (V)For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and look! They are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ^(W)‘Long^[h] live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ But he has not invited me—me your servant—nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. ²⁷ Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not told your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

David Proclaims Solomon King^(X)

²⁸ Then King David answered and said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. ²⁹ And the king took an oath and said, ^(Y)“As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress, ^30 (Z)just as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so I certainly will do this day.”

³¹ Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and paid homage to the king, and said, ^(AA)“Let my lord King David live forever!”

³² And King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. ³³ The king also said to them, ^(AB)“Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own ^(AC)mule, and take him down to ^(AD)Gihon.^{[i] 34} There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet ^(AE)anoint him king over Israel; and ^(AF)blow the horn, and say, ^[j]‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, ^(AG)“Amen! May the Lord God of my lord the king say so too. ^37 (AH)As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon, and ^(AI)make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, ^(AJ)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the ^(AK)Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. ³⁹ Then Zadok the priest took a horn of ^(AL)oil from the tabernacle and ^(AM)anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, ^(AN)and all the people said, ^[k]“Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.

⁴¹ Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, “Why is the city in such a noisy uproar?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, there came ^(AO)Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest. And Adonijah said to him, “Come in, for ^(AP)you are a prominent man, and bring good news.”

⁴³ Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule. ⁴⁵ So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. ⁴⁶ Also Solomon ^(AQ)sits on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ And moreover the king’s servants have gone to bless our lord King David, saying, ^(AR)‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.’ ^(AS)Then the king bowed himself on the bed. ⁴⁸ Also the king said thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has ^(AT)given one to sit on my throne this day, while my eyes see ^(AU)it!’ ”

⁴⁹ So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose, and each one went his way.

⁵⁰ Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and ^(AV)took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ And it was told Solomon, saying, “Indeed Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ”

⁵² Then Solomon said, “If he proves himself a worthy man, ^(AW)not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” ⁵³ So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar. And he came and fell down before King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

David’s Instructions to Solomon

2 Now ^(AX)the days of David drew near that he should die, and he ^[l]charged Solomon his son, saying: ^2 (AY)“I go the way of all the earth; ^(AZ)be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. ³ And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may ^(BA)prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; ⁴ that the Lord may ^(BB)fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ^(BC)‘If your sons take heed to their way, to ^(BD)walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ^(BE)‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵ “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah ^(BF)did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^(BG)Abner the son of Ner and ^(BH)Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. ⁶ Therefore do ^(BI)according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.

⁷ “But show kindness to the sons of ^(BJ)Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who ^(BK)eat at your table, for so ^(BL)they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

⁸ “And see, you have with you ^(BM)Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But ^(BN)he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and ^(BO)I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore, ^(BP)do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but ^(BQ)bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.”

Death of David^(BR)

¹⁰ So ^(BS)David ^[m]rested with his fathers, and was buried in ^(BT)the City of David. ¹¹ The period that David ^(BU)reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. ^12 (BV)Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was ^(BW)firmly established.

Solomon Executes Adonijah

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, ^(BX)“Do you come peaceably?”

And he said, “Peaceably.” ¹⁴ Moreover he said, “I have something to say to you.”

And she said, “Say it.”

¹⁵ Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was ^(BY)mine, and all Israel had set their expectations on me, that I should reign. However, the kingdom has been turned over, and has become my brother’s; for ^(BZ)it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I ask one petition of you; do not ^[n]deny me.”

And she said to him, “Say it.”

¹⁷ Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me ^(CA)Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”

¹⁸ So Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak for you to the king.”

¹⁹ Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and ^(CB)bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; ^(CC)so she sat at his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said, “I desire one small petition of you; do not ^[o]refuse me.”

And the king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

²¹ So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”

²² And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also—for he is my ^(CD)older brother—for him, and for ^(CE)Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, ^(CF)“May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life! ²⁴ Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a ^[p]house for me, as He ^(CG)promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!”

²⁵ So King Solomon sent by the hand of ^(CH)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.

Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to ^(CI)Anathoth, to your own fields, for ^[q]you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, ^(CJ)because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.” ²⁷ So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might ^(CK)fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

²⁸ Then news came to Joab, for Joab ^(CL)had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and ^(CM)took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, ^(CN)strike him down.” ³⁰ So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ^(CO)‘Come out!’ ”

And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

³¹ Then the king said to him, ^(CP)“Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, ^(CQ)that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. ³² So the Lord ^(CR)will return his ^[r]blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous ^(CS)and better than he, and killed them with the sword—^(CT)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and ^(CU)Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it. ³³ Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and ^(CV)upon the head of his descendants forever. ^(CW)But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.”

³⁴ So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put ^(CX)Zadok the priest in the place of ^(CY)Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

³⁶ Then the king sent and called for ^(CZ)Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere. ³⁷ For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross ^(DA)the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; ^(DB)your ^[s]blood shall be on your own head.”

³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to ^(DC)Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!” ⁴⁰ So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. ⁴¹ And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. ⁴² Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, ^(DD)all the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the Lord will ^(DE)return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and ^(DF)the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”

⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the ^(DG)kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon Requests Wisdom^(DH)

3 Now ^(DI)Solomon made ^[t]a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her ^(DJ)to the City of David until he had finished building his ^(DK)own house, and ^(DL)the house of the Lord, and ^(DM)the wall all around Jerusalem. ^2 (DN)Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. ³ And Solomon ^(DO)loved the Lord, ^(DP)walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

⁴ Now ^(DQ)the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, ^(DR)for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ^5 (DS)At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon ^(DT)in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

^6 (DU)And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he ^(DV)walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You ^(DW)have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷ Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a ^(DX)little child; I do not know how ^(DY)to go out or come in. ⁸ And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You ^(DZ)have chosen, a great people, ^(EA)too numerous to be numbered or counted. ^9 (EB)Therefore give to Your servant an ^[u]understanding heart ^(EC)to judge Your people, that I may ^(ED)discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

¹⁰ The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹ Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have ^(EE)not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, ^12 (EF)behold, I have done according to your words; ^(EG)see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. ¹³ And I have also ^(EH)given you what you have not asked: both ^(EI)riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. ¹⁴ So ^(EJ)if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, ^(EK)as your father David walked, then I will ^(EL)lengthen^[v] your days.”

¹⁵ Then Solomon ^(EM)awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and ^(EN)made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon’s Wise Judgment

¹⁶ Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and ^(EO)stood before him. ¹⁷ And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. ¹⁸ Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; ^[w]no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. ¹⁹ And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. ²⁰ So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹ And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.”

²² Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.”

And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.”

Thus they spoke before the king.

²³ And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” ²⁴ Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”

²⁶ Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for ^(EP)she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!”

But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”

²⁷ So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”

²⁸ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the ^(EQ)wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

Solomon’s Administration

4 So King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, ^[x]scribes; ^(ER)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; ^4 (ES)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army; Zadok and ^(ET)Abiathar, the priests; ⁵ Azariah the son of Nathan, over ^(EU)the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, ^(EV)a priest and ^(EW)the king’s friend; ⁶ Ahishar, over the household; and ^(EX)Adoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force.

⁷ And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year. ⁸ These are their names: ^[y]Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim; ^9 [z]Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; ^10 [aa]Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; ^11 [ab]Ben-Abinadab, in all the regions of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife; ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam; ^13 [ac]Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged ^(EY)the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; to him also belonged ^(EZ)the region of Argob in Bashan—sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars; ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ^15 (FA)Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife; ¹⁶ Baanah the son of ^(FB)Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ^18 (FC)Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in ^(FD)the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only governor who was in the land.

Prosperity and Wisdom of Solomon’s Reign

²⁰ Judah and Israel were as numerous ^(FE)as the sand by the sea in multitude, ^(FF)eating and drinking and rejoicing. ²¹ So ^(FG)Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from ^(FH)the^[ad] River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. ^(FI)They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

^22 (FJ)Now Solomon’s ^[ae]provision for one day was thirty ^[af]kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal, ²³ ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.

²⁴ For he had dominion over all the region on this side of ^[ag]the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over ^(FK)all the kings on this side of the River; and ^(FL)he had peace on every side all around him. ²⁵ And Judah and Israel ^(FM)dwelt^[ah] safely, ^(FN)each man under his vine and his fig tree, ^(FO)from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

^26 (FP)Solomon had ^[ai]forty thousand stalls of ^(FQ)horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ And ^(FR)these governors, each man in his month, provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon’s table. There was no lack in their supply. ²⁸ They also brought barley and straw to the proper place, for the horses and steeds, each man according to his charge.

²⁹ And ^(FS)God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰ Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men ^(FT)of the East and all ^(FU)the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was ^(FV)wiser than all men—^(FW)than Ethan the Ezrahite, ^(FX)and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ^32 (FY)He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his ^(FZ)songs were one thousand and five. ³³ Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. ³⁴ And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, ^(GA)came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.