I made great works. I (A)built houses and planted (B)vineyards for myself.

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Solomon Builds His Palace

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

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

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

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

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 (F)whom he had taken in marriage.

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 (G)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 (H)the vestibule of the house.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 7:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  2. 1 Kings 7:2 Septuagint three
  3. 1 Kings 7:5 Septuagint; Hebrew posts
  4. 1 Kings 7:7 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew floor

30 and the king answered and said, (A)“Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by (B)my mighty power as a royal residence and for (C)the glory of my majesty?”

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The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed

Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had (A)a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.

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11 Their (A)graves are their homes forever,[a]
    their dwelling places (B)to all generations,
    though they (C)called lands by their own names.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 49:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Their inward thought was that their homes were forever

10 And he built towers in the wilderness and (A)cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.

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11 (A)Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”

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Solomon's Accomplishments

(A)At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, Solomon rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them.

And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and took it. He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store cities that he built in Hamath. He also built (B)Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, (C)fortified cities (D)with walls, gates, and bars, and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

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27 and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite; and over the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite.

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19 “Let there be (A)a covenant[a] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 15:19 Or treaty; twice in this verse

19 The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top,[a] and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 20 while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 10:19 Or and at the back of the throne was a calf's head

The Lord Appears to Solomon

(A)As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord (B)and the king's house and (C)all that Solomon desired to build,

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18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself (A)the pillar that is in (B)the King's Valley, for he said, (C)“I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument[a] to this day.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 18:18 Or Absalom's hand

12 (A)lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 (B)then your heart be lifted up, and you (C)forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,

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Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower (A)with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

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