Bible in 90 Days

Rules for the priests

24 Aaron's descendants, the priests, were in the following groups.

Aaron's four sons were: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ² But Nadab and Abihu died before their father died. They had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served God as priests.

³ Zadok and Ahimelech helped David to put Aaron's descendants into groups. Zadok was a descendant of Eleazar. Ahimelech was a descendant of Ithamar. They told each group what their work would be to serve God. ⁴ There were more leaders among Eleazar's descendants than among Ithamar's descendants. So from Eleazar's descendants, there were 16 groups with their leaders. From Ithamar's descendants there were eight groups with their leaders. ⁵ They used lots to decide the work of each group. The families of both Eleazar and Ithamar included officers for the temple as well as priests.

⁶ Shemaiah was the secretary who wrote down the names in each group. He was the son of Nethanel, a Levite. Shemaiah wrote down the names while the king and his officers watched. Zadok the priest, Abiathar's son Ahimelech and the leaders of the priests' clans and of the other Levite clans were also watching. When they threw the lots, they would choose a family from Eleazar's descendants, then a family from Ithamar's descendants, and so on.

^7-18 This is the list of the group leaders as they chose them, one by one:

¹⁹ Each of these leaders, with their group, had their jobs to do in the temple. They had to obey the rules that their ancestor Aaron had given. The Lord, Israel's God, had told him what they must do.

The other Levites

²⁰ The leaders of the other Levite families included:^[a]

That is the list of the Levites, with the leaders of each family.

³¹ They also used lots to choose their different jobs, as their relatives, Aaron's descendants, had done. King David, Zadok, Ahimelech and the family leaders of the priests and the other Levites watched them. They chose work for the family leaders in the same way that they did for their younger brothers.

Groups of temple musicians

25 David and the army officers chose some Levites to serve God as musicians. They belonged to the families of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun. They chose these men to speak messages from God while they made music with harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is a list of the men that they chose for this work:

² From Asaph's sons, there were: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. Asaph had authority over their work. He would speak a message from God when the king told him to do that.

³ From Jeduthun's sons, there were six musicians: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah. Their father Jeduthun had authority over their work. He spoke messages from God while he made music with a harp. He also sang to thank the Lord and to praise him.

⁴ From Heman's sons, there were: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth. ⁵ All those men were sons of Heman, the king's prophet. God had promised to give Heman many children who would give him honour. God gave him 14 sons and three daughters.

⁶ All these musicians were under the authority of their fathers. They used cymbals, harps and lyres to make music to worship the Lord in his temple. The king had authority over Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman. ⁷ All those men had skills to make good music, as well as their relatives. There were 288 Levites who served the Lord as musicians. ⁸ They used lots to decide the right work for each musician. They chose work for everyone in the same way: the young men and the older men, the teachers and the students.

^9-31 They chose 24 groups of musicians. There were 12 musicians in each group and each group had its leader. These were the names of the leaders of each group, from the first to the last that they chose:

Groups of temple guards

26 These are the groups of guards for the entrances of the temple:^[b]

From Korah's descendants there was Kore's son Meshelemiah, who was a descendant of Asaph.

² Meshelemiah's seven sons were: Zechariah (his firstborn son), then Jediael (his second son), Zebadiah (his third son), Jathniel (his fourth son), ³ Elam (his fifth son), Jehohanan (his sixth son) and Eliehoenai (his seventh son).

⁴ Obed-Edom's sons were: Shemaiah (his firstborn son), Jehozabad (his second son), Joah (his third son), Sachar (his fourth son), Nethanel (his fifth son), ⁵ Ammiel (his sixth son), Issachar (his seventh son) and Peullethai (his eighth son). God blessed Obed-Edom with those eight sons.

^6-7 Obed-Edom's son Shemaiah had four sons. They were called Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad. They were leaders in their clan, because they were brave men. People respected them very much. People also respected their relatives, Elihu and Semakiah.

⁸ There were 62 descendants of Obed-Edom. People respected them, as well as their sons and their relatives. They could all do their work well.

⁹ Meshelemiah had 18 sons and relatives. People respected them as men who could work well.

¹⁰ From Merari's descendants there was Hosah. He had four sons: Shimri was his firstborn son. His father chose him to be the leader among his sons, but he was not the oldest of them. ¹¹ Hilkiah was Hosah's second son, Tebaliah was his third son and Zechariah was his fourth son. 13 men from among Hosah's sons and relatives worked as guards for the temple.

¹² Each group of guards had a leader. Like the other Levites, each group had a job to do as they served the Lord in his temple. ¹³ They used lots to decide which family group would be the guards for each gate of the temple. They chose the jobs for everyone in the same way, important people and ordinary people.

¹⁴ They chose Shelemiah's group to be guards for the East gate. They chose his son Zechariah's group for the North gate. Zechariah was a wise man who gave good advice. ¹⁵ They chose Obed-Edom's group to be guards at the South gate. They chose his sons to be guards for the rooms where they kept valuable things. ¹⁶ They chose Shuppim's group and Hosah's group to be guards at the West gate, as well as the Shalleketh Gate on the higher road.

They chose the times for each group of guards to work each day. ¹⁷ Six Levites watched the east side of the temple. Four men watched the north side and four men watched the south side. Two guards worked together at each room where they kept valuable things. ¹⁸ There were four guards on the road near the yard at the west side of the temple. And there were two guards in the yard.

¹⁹ That was the work of the different groups of guards who were descendants of Korah and Merari.

Other work for the Levites

²⁰ Other Levites kept the valuable things in the temple safe. That included the money and the gifts that people had offered to God.

²¹ One group of these men were descendants of Ladan, who belonged to Gershon's clan. These were the leaders of those families: Jehieli, ²² and his sons, Zetham and Joel (his younger brother). They had authority for the rooms where they kept the money and other valuable things in the Lord's temple.

²³ The other guards for those rooms were descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. ²⁴ Shebuel was a descendant of Moses' son Gershom. He was the leader with authority to keep the money safe. ²⁵ His relatives were descendants of Gershom's brother Eliezer. They were: Eliezer's son Rehabiah, Rebaiah's son Jeshaiah, Jeshaiah's son Joram, Joram's son Zikri, and Zikri's son Shelomoth. ²⁶ Shelomoth and his relatives had authority for all the holy things that people had offered as gifts to God. King David, the leaders of clans and army officers had given those things to God. ²⁷ When the Israelites won battles, they took valuable things from their enemies. They brought some of those things to the Lord's temple to make it strong. ²⁸ There were also gifts that Samuel the prophet, Kish's son Saul, Ner's son Abner and Zeruiah's son Joab had offered to the Lord. Shelomoth and his relatives had authority to keep safe everything that had been offered to the Lord.

²⁹ There were also descendants of Izhar: Kenaniah and his sons did not work in the temple. Instead they served as judges and officers in different places in Israel.

³⁰ There were descendants of Hebron: Hashabiah and his relatives served as officers on the west side of the Jordan River. There were 1,700 of those men who could work well. They had authority for the work the people did to serve the Lord and the king. ³¹ Jeriah was the leader among Hebron's descendants. The records of their ancestors showed that this was true. When David had been king for 40 years, people read those records carefully. They realized that there were descendants of Hebron who were living at Jazer in Gilead region, and people respected them very much. ³² There were 2,700 men from Jeriah's clan who were good leaders in their families. King David chose them to be officers with authority for the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh.^[c] They had authority for all the work that people did to serve the Lord and the king.

The leaders of Israel's army

27 This is a list of the men from Israel's families who served as soldiers in the army. Some were leaders of their families. Some were officers who led 1,000 soldiers or officers who led 100 soldiers. Other men were officers who served the king in different ways. Each month of the year, a group of 24,000 men served the king as soldiers.

² Zabdiel's son Jashobeam was the leader of the first group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the first month of each year. ³ Jashobeam was a descendant of Perez. He was leader of all the army officers for the first month.

⁴ Dodai was the leader of the second group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the second month. Dodai belonged to Ahoah's clan. Mikloth was the leader who helped him.

⁵ Benaiah was the leader of the third group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the third month. Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the priest. ⁶ Benaiah was the leader of the 30 great soldiers and his whole group. His son was Ammizabad.

⁷ Asahel was the leader of the fourth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the fourth month. Asahel was Joab's brother. His son Zebadiah was the leader of the group after him.

⁸ Shamhuth, from Izrah's clan, was the leader of the fifth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the fifth month.

⁹ Ira was the leader of the sixth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the sixth month. Ira was the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa.

¹⁰ Helez was the leader of the seventh group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the seventh month. He belonged to Pelon's clan, in the tribe of Ephraim.

¹¹ Sibbecai was the leader of the eighth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the eighth month. Sibbecai was a descendant of Zerah, who came from Hushah.

¹² Abiezer was the leader of the ninth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the ninth month. Abiezer came from Anathoth, in the tribe of Benjamin.

¹³ Maharai was the leader of the tenth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the tenth month. Maharai was a descendant of Zerah, who came from Netophah.

¹⁴ Benaiah was the leader of the 11th group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the 11th month. Benaiah came from Pirathon, in the tribe of Ephraim.

¹⁵ Heldai was the leader of the 12th group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the 12th month. He was a descendant of Othniel, who came from Netophah.

Officers with authority over Israel's tribes

¹⁶ This is a list of the officers who had authority over Israel's tribes:

Those were the officers who led the tribes of Israel.

²³ The Lord had promised to make Israel a nation with as many people as there are stars in the sky. So King David did not count the men who were less than 20 years old. ²⁴ Zeruiah's son Joab had begun to count the men. He did not finish counting them because the Lord started to punish Israel. So nobody wrote the number in the history book about King David's life.

Other officers who served the king

²⁵ Adiel's son Azmaveth had authority over the places in the palace where the king stored his valuable things.

Uzziah's son Jonathan had authority over the places in the different regions of Israel where the king stored his things. Those places were in towns, in villages and in strong towers.

²⁶ Kelub's son Ezri had authority over the men who worked in the king's fields.

²⁷ Shimei from Ramah had authority over the men who worked in the king's vineyards.

Zabdi from Shepham had authority over the men who stored wine in the vineyards.

²⁸ Baal-Hanan from Geder had authority over the trees in the low hills in the west. They were olive trees and fig trees.

Joash had authority over the places where they stored the olive oil.

²⁹ Shitrai from Sharon had authority to take care of the king's cows that were in Sharon.

Adlai's son Shaphat had authority to take care of the king's cows that were in the valleys.

³⁰ Obil, a descendant of Ishmael, had authority for the king's camels.

Jehdeiah from Meronoth had authority for the donkeys.

³¹ Jaziz, a descendant of Hagar, had authority to take care of the king's sheep and goats.

These were the officers who had authority to take care of King David's things.

³² David's uncle, Jonathan, was a wise man who gave good advice. He wrote down records.

Hakmoni's son Jehiel taught the king's sons.

³³ Ahithophel was the king's advisor, and Hushai, from Arki, was also the king's friend. ³⁴ After Ahithophel died, Benaiah's son Jehoiada became the king's advisor. After him, Abiathar became his advisor.

Joab was the captain who led the king's army.

David brings all his officers together^[e]

28 David told all Israel's officers to come and meet with him in Jerusalem. They included:

² King David stood up and he said, ‘Listen to me, my people. I wanted to build a house where we could put the Lord's Covenant Box. It would be like a place for our God to rest his feet. I prepared the things that I would need to build a temple. ³ But God said to me, “You are a fighter and you have killed many people in war. So you must not build a house to give honour to my name.” 

⁴ But it was the Lord, Israel's God, who chose me to become Israel's king. He chose my family to rule Israel for all time. First, he chose the tribe of Judah to be the leader of Israel's people. Then he chose my father's family from among the clans of Judah. Finally, he chose me from among my father's sons. He made me king to rule over all Israel. ⁵ The Lord has given me many sons. Now he has chosen my son Solomon from among them to rule over his kingdom, Israel. ⁶ The Lord said to me, “Your son Solomon will build my temple and the yards around it. I have chosen him to become my son. And I will become his father. ⁷ He must always continue to obey my commands and my laws, as he now does. If he is careful to do that, I will make his kingdom strong for all time.”

⁸ I am telling you this now, while we meet together as the Lord's people. All Israel's people, as well as our God, know what I have said. You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God. Then this good land will continue to be your home. And after you die it will belong to your descendants for ever.

⁹ As for you, Solomon, my son, keep near to your father's God. Be happy to serve him faithfully in every way. The Lord knows what you are thinking. He understands all your thoughts. If you turn to him, you will find him. But if you turn away from him, he will leave you alone for ever. ¹⁰ You must realize that the Lord has chosen you to build a temple to be his special home. Now you must be strong! Do this work.’

Solomon learns how to build the temple

¹¹ Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the temple buildings. That included the entrance room, the rooms to store things, the upstairs rooms and the inside rooms. And it included the Most Holy Place where the Covenant Box would be. ¹² David showed Solomon the ideas that God had put in his mind. He gave him the plans for the yards around the Lord's temple and the rooms around the yards. There were also plans of the rooms to store the valuable things and the gifts that people had offered to God.

¹³ David gave Solomon the rules for the work of the priests and Levites. He gave him a list of the different kinds of work that each group must do in the Lord's temple. He also gave him a list of the special things that were used to serve the Lord in the temple.

¹⁴ He told Solomon the weight of gold and the weight of silver that he must use to make some of those special things. ¹⁵ That included the weight of gold for the lampstands and for their lamps. It also included the weight of silver for the silver lampstands and for their lamps. Each lampstand was different because they would use it for a different purpose. ¹⁶ It included the weight of gold to make the special table where the priests would put the special bread. And it included the weight of silver to make the silver tables. ¹⁷ It also included the weight of pure gold to make the forks, dishes, cups and small bowls. Each gold bowl had its own weight. There was also the weight of silver for each of the silver bowls. ¹⁸ And there was the weight of pure gold for the altar to burn incense.

David also gave Solomon the plan for the gold images of cherubs for the Lord's Covenant Box. They would have wings that touched each other above the lid of the Covenant Box. They would be like a chariot for the Lord.

¹⁹ David said, ‘I have written down everything about these things, as the Lord told me to do. He helped me to understand how these plans would work.’

²⁰ David said to his son Solomon, ‘Be strong and brave to do this work. The Lord God, my God, is with you to help you. He will not leave you alone. So do not be afraid. He will stay with you until you have finished all the work to build his temple.

²¹ Look! Here are the groups of priests and Levites who are ready to serve the Lord in the temple. The men with special skills are ready to help you with the work. The officers and all the people are ready to do what you tell them to do.’

Gifts to help build the temple

29 Then King David spoke to all the people who were meeting together. He said, ‘God has clearly chosen my son Solomon to do this great work. But he is still young and he has no special skills. It is a very important work for him to build the temple. It will not be a palace for people, but for the Lord God himself! ² I have tried to provide the things that he will need to build the temple for my God. They include gold, silver, bronze, iron and wood to make things. I have also given many valuable stones, including onyx, antimony and other jewels, as well as a lot of marble.^{[f] 3} I want very much to build a beautiful temple for my God. So I have added my own gold and silver to help to build it. I have added that to the other things that I have provided for God's holy temple. ⁴ I have given 110 tons of the best gold and 260 tons of pure silver to cover the walls of the buildings. ⁵ Workers with special skills can also use that gold and silver to make beautiful things. So now, who else will make a gift today to serve the Lord?’

⁶ Then the Israelite leaders and officers agreed to offer gifts to help the Lord's work. They included the leaders of clans and the leaders of Israel's tribes, the army officers who led 1,000 men and who led 100 men, and the officers with authority for the king's work. ⁷ They gave these gifts for God's temple:

⁸ People who had valuable stones gave them for the Lord's house. Jehiel from Gershon's clan stored them in a safe place. ⁹ The people were very happy that their leaders gave these things. They were pleased to give to help the Lord's work. King David was also very happy.

David praises the Lord

¹⁰ David praised the Lord in front of all the people who had met together. He said,

¹⁴ But I and my people are like nothing. How are we able to give all these gifts to help your work? Everything that we have comes from you. So we are giving back to you things that already belong to you. ¹⁵ We are like strangers and foreign people who live in your world. Our ancestors also lived in that way. We live here only for a short time and then we disappear, like a shadow. We know that we will die one day. ¹⁶ Lord, our God, we have given these things to build a temple for you, to give honour to your holy name. But all these valuable things come from you. They already belong to you. ¹⁷ My God, I know that you look carefully at our thoughts. You are pleased when we want to do things that are right. And I really do want to offer all these things to you. I know that your people who have met together here are happy. I can see that they are pleased to give these things to you. ¹⁸ Lord, you are the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Please help us, your people, to continue to obey you. Help us to serve you faithfully. ¹⁹ Please help my son Solomon to want to obey you. Help him to obey all your commands, rules and laws. Help him to work well to build your temple. I have prepared the things that he will need to do that.’

²⁰ Then David spoke to all the people who were meeting there together. He told them, ‘Now praise the Lord, your God!’ So all the people praised the Lord, the God of their ancestors. They bent down low to worship the Lord. They gave honour to the Lord and also to the king.

Solomon becomes king

²¹ On the next day, they offered sacrifices to the Lord. They made burnt offerings of 1,000 bulls, 1,000 male sheep and 1,000 lambs. They made the proper drink offerings with those sacrifices. They also offered many other sacrifices on behalf of all the Israelites.

²² They ate a big feast to give honour to the Lord and they were very happy.

Then they anointed David's son Solomon to be the next king, with the Lord's blessing. That was the second time that they had chosen him as their king.^[h] They also anointed Zadok to be priest. ²³ So Solomon sat on the Lord's throne as king, in his father David's place. Everything went well for him as king. All the people in Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All King David's officers, his brave soldiers and all of his sons promised to serve King Solomon faithfully.

²⁵ The Lord caused all the people in Israel to respect Solomon as a great king. They gave him much honour, more than any king that had ruled Israel before him.

David dies

²⁶ Jesse's son David had ruled over all Israel as king. ²⁷ He had ruled Israel for 40 years. He ruled for seven years in Hebron. Then he ruled for 33 years in Jerusalem. ²⁸ He was an old man when he died. During his long life, God gave him riches as well as honour. Then David's son Solomon became king instead of him.

²⁹ The prophets Samuel, Nathan and Gad wrote history books about all the things that King David did. They wrote down everything that he did as king, from the beginning to the end. ³⁰ The books tell us how he ruled with great power. They tell us about the things that happened to him. They also tell us about the things that happened in Israel and in the other kingdoms in that region.

King Solomon speaks to his people

1 David's son Solomon made himself a strong ruler over his kingdom.^[i] The Lord his God was with Solomon, so that he became a great king.^[j]

² Solomon called all the people of Israel to come together. They included the army officers who had authority over 1,000 men, and those who had authority over 100 men. They also included the judges, the leaders in Israel and the leaders of families. ³ Then Solomon went with all those people to Gibeon town to worship God. The special tent that the Lord's servant Moses had made in the desert was there. It was the tent where God met with his people. ⁴ Before that, King David had brought God's Covenant Box from Kiriath-Jearim to Jerusalem. He had prepared a place for it in a tent there. ⁵ But the bronze altar that Bezalel had made was in Gibeon, in front of the Lord's tent. (Bezalel was the son of Uri, and the grandson of Hur.) So Solomon and the people went to meet the Lord there in Gibeon. ⁶ Solomon went up to the bronze altar which was in front of the Lord's special tent. He offered 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord.

God meets with Solomon

⁷ That night, God showed himself to Solomon. God said, ‘Ask me to give you whatever you want.’

⁸ Solomon answered God, ‘You always showed your faithful love to my father David. Now you have chosen me to be king after him. ⁹ Now, Lord God, please do as you promised to my father David. You have chosen me to rule as king over a great nation with as many people as the dust on the ground. ¹⁰ So please give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I can be a good leader of these people. I will only be able to rule this great nation of your people if you do that for me.’

¹¹ God said to Solomon, ‘I am pleased that you have not asked to have riches or many valuable things. You have not asked me to give you great honour or for me to punish your enemies with death. You have not asked for a long life. Instead you asked me to give you wisdom and knowledge to rule over my people that I have chosen you to rule as king. ¹² Because of that, I will give to you wisdom and knowledge, as you asked. But I will also give you riches, valuable things and honour. You will have more of those than any king who has lived before you and more than any king who will live after you.’

¹³ Solomon left the special tent in Gibeon where God met with his people. He returned to Jerusalem. There he ruled over Israel as king.

Solomon buys horses and chariots

¹⁴ Solomon brought together many chariots and horses for his soldiers to ride. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept some of them in Jerusalem where he lived as king. He kept the others in cities that he had chosen for this. ¹⁵ While Solomon ruled as king, there was as much silver and gold in Jerusalem as stones! There was as much wood from cedar trees as there were fig trees that grew in the low hills in the west. ¹⁶ Solomon brought his horses from Egypt and from Kue. He sent traders to Kue to buy them for him. ¹⁷ They paid 600 pieces of silver for each chariot that they bought in Egypt. They paid 150 pieces of silver for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.^[k]

Solomon begins to build the temple

2 Solomon decided to build a house to give honour to the Lord's name. He also decided to build a royal palace for himself. ² He chose 70,000 men to carry the heavy things for the buildings, and 80,000 men to cut rocks in the hills. He also chose 3,600 men to lead these workers.

Solomon asks Huram for help

³ Solomon wrote this letter to King Huram of Tyre:

‘You helped my father King David when you sent him wood from cedar trees to build his palace. Please help me now. ⁴ I am ready to build a temple to give honour to the Lord my God. It will be a holy place that belongs to him. We Israelites will burn sweet incense for him there. We will put special bread there every day. We will burn sacrifices to the Lord our God every morning and every evening. We will also do that on Sabbath days, on New Moon festival days and on other special days that God has chosen. He has told us to do this for all time.

⁵ The house that I will build for our God will be a great temple, because he is greater than all gods. ⁶ I know that nobody can really build a house for our God. The whole sky, or even heaven itself, is not big enough to contain him. So I certainly cannot build a place for him to live in, but it will be a place where we can offer sacrifices to him.

⁷ Please send me a man who has special skills to work with gold, silver, bronze and iron, as well as with valuable red, purple and blue materials. He must also know how to cut pictures on metal. He will help my own workers here in Judah^[l] and in Jerusalem. They are workers with special skills that my father David chose to do this work.

⁸ Please send me wood from cedar trees, cypress trees and other strong trees from Lebanon. I know that your men have good skills to cut down trees in Lebanon. My own men will help your men with the work. ⁹ I will need you to send me a lot of wood because I am ready to build a large and beautiful temple. ¹⁰ I will pay your men who cut down the trees. To pay them, I will send 2,000 tons of wheat, 2,000 tons of barley, 450,000 litres of wine and 450,000 litres of olive oil.’

Huram replies to Solomon's letter

¹¹ King Huram of Tyre replied to Solomon with this letter:

‘Because the Lord loves his people, he has chosen you to be their king.’

¹² Huram also said, ‘Praise the Lord, Israel's God! He made the whole universe. He has now given a wise son to King David, a son who is clever and who understands things well. He will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

¹³ I have decided to send Huram-Abi to you. He is a wise man who has special skills. ¹⁴ His mother belonged to the tribe of Dan. His father came from Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone and wood. He can also work with purple, blue and red materials, and with white linen. He can make all kinds of pictures on metal, if you show him what you want. He will help your own workers and the workers that your father King David chose.

¹⁵ Please sir, now send us the wheat, barley, olive oil and wine that you promised. ¹⁶ Then we will cut the wood that you need from the trees in Lebanon. We will tie the wood together to make boats. Then we will send them on the sea to Joppa. You can take the wood from there up to Jerusalem.’^[m]

Solomon chooses men to build the temple

¹⁷ Solomon counted all the foreign men who were living in Israel, as his father David had done. There were 153,600 foreign men. ¹⁸ He chose 70,000 of them to carry things for the buildings and 80,000 of them to cut rocks in the hills. He also chose 3,600 of them to lead the workers, to make sure that they finished the work properly.

Solomon begins to build

3 Then Solomon began to build the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. He built it on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had shown himself to his father David.^[n] David had prepared a place for the temple there, at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.^{[o] 2} Solomon began to build the temple on the second day of the second month of the fourth year that he ruled Israel as king.^[p]

³ The foundation for God's temple was 27 metres long and 9 metres wide. (They measured it in cubits.)

⁴ There was an entrance room at the front of the temple's big hall. It was as wide as the temple, 9 metres wide. It was 9 metres high.^[q] Solomon's workers covered the inside of the entrance room with pure gold.

⁵ They covered the walls inside the big hall with boards of cypress wood. Then they covered the boards with pure gold. They drew pictures of palm trees and chains on the walls. ⁶ They used valuable stones to make the temple beautiful. The gold that they used came from Parvaim. ⁷ They used gold to cover all parts of the temple: the beams for its roof, the entrances, the walls and the doors. They cut pictures of cherubs on the walls.

The Most Holy Place in the temple

⁸ Solomon's workers built the Most Holy Place in the temple. It was 9 metres long and 9 metres wide. That was how wide the temple itself was. They used about 20,000 kilograms of pure gold to cover its walls. ⁹ The gold nails weighed the same as 50 gold coins. They also covered the walls of the upstairs rooms with gold.

¹⁰ In the Most Holy Place, they made models of two cherubs. They covered them with gold. ^11-13 The cherubs stood side by side in the Most Holy Place. Their faces looked towards the big hall. Each cherub had two wings. Each wing was 2.2 metres long. They held their wings out so that one wing of each cherub touched a wing of the other cherub. The other wing of each cherub touched a wall of the Most Holy Place. The four wings of the two cherubs reached across 9 metres.

¹⁴ Solomon's workers used blue, purple and red material and good linen to make a special curtain. It had pictures of cherubs on it.

The two pillars

¹⁵ Solomon's workers made two pillars to stand at the front of the temple. They were 16 metres high.^[r] There was a piece on the top of each pillar that was 2.2 metres high.

¹⁶ They made images of chains around the top pieces of the pillars. They also made 100 images of pomegranates among the chains. ¹⁷ Then they put the two pillars at the entrance of the temple. One pillar stood on the south side of the entrance. The other pillar stood on the north side. Solomon called the pillar on the south side ‘Jakin’. He called the pillar on the north side ‘Boaz’.^[s]

Solomon's workers make things for the temple

4 Solomon's workers made a bronze altar. It was 9 metres long, 9 metres wide and 4 metres high. ² They used bronze to make a big bath which they called ‘the Sea’. It was in the shape of a circle 4½ metres across. It was 2½ metres deep. It was 14 metres around the outside.^{[t] 3} All around its edge, below the top, there were two rows of images of things that looked like bulls. They were all part of the same piece of bronze as the big bath. There were 20 bulls for every metre around the edge.

⁴ They put the bronze ‘Sea’ on top of 12 bronze bulls. Three pointed north, three pointed west, three pointed south and three pointed east. Their backs were towards the middle of the ‘Sea’. ⁵ The bronze walls of the ‘Sea’ were 7½ centimetres thick. Its top edge was like a cup in the shape of a lily flower. The ‘Sea’ contained about 65,000 litres of water.

⁶ They made ten bowls to wash in. They put five bowls on the south side and five bowls on the north side. The priests used them to wash all the things that they used for the burnt offerings. But the priests washed themselves in the water from the bronze ‘Sea’.

⁷ They used gold to make ten lampstands. They made them in the way that Solomon told them. They put the lampstands in the temple, five lampstands on the south side and five lampstands on the north side.^[u]

⁸ They also made ten tables. They put them in the temple, five tables on the south side and five tables on the north side. They also used gold to make 100 bowls.

⁹ They made a small yard for the priests and another big yard with doors. They covered the doors with bronze. ¹⁰ They put the bronze ‘Sea’ on the south side of the temple, at its south-east corner.

¹¹ Huram-Abi also made more pots, small tools and bowls. So he finished all the work in God's temple that King Solomon had asked him to do. He made these things:

King Solomon asked Huram-Abi to make all these things for the Lord's temple. He used bright bronze to make all these things. ¹⁷ The king told his workers to pour the hot bronze into shapes in the ground. They did that at a special place in the region of the Jordan Valley, between Succoth and Zarethan. ¹⁸ Solomon did not weigh any of these things, because there were so many of them. No one ever knew the weight of the bronze.

Inside the temple

¹⁹ Solomon's workers also made all these things for God's temple:

5 Solomon finished all the work for the Lord's temple. Then he brought into it all the holy things that belonged to his father, David. He stored all the valuable things in a safe place in God's temple. They included silver things and gold things.

Solomon brings the Covenant Box to the temple

² Then Solomon told all the leaders of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. They were all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families. He wanted them to bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Mount Zion, the City of David, to put it in the temple.^{[v] 3} So all the Israelite leaders came together to meet with King Solomon. This happened during the Festival of Huts in the seventh month of the year.

⁴ When all Israel's leaders had arrived, the Levites lifted up the Covenant Box. ⁵ The priests and the other Levites carried the Covenant Box, the Tent of Meeting and all the holy things that were in the tent. ⁶ King Solomon and all the Israelites who were with him walked in front of the Covenant Box. They offered many sheep and bulls as sacrifices. There were more animals than anyone could count.

⁷ Then the priests brought the Lord's Covenant Box to its proper place in the inside room of the temple. That was the Most Holy Place. They put it under the wings of the cherubs. ⁸ The wings of the cherubs touched each other above the place where the Covenant Box was. The cherubs covered the Covenant Box and the poles that the Levites used to carry it. ⁹ The poles in the Covenant Box were very long. The priests could see their ends from the Holy Place, if they stood in front of the Most Holy Place. But nobody could see the poles from outside the temple. And they are still there today. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the Covenant Box, except the two flat pieces of stone that Moses had put there at Sinai mountain. That was where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out from Egypt.^[w]

The priests sing to praise the Lord

¹¹ Then the priests came out of the Holy Place. All the different groups of priests who were there had made themselves clean to serve God. ¹² The Levites who were musicians stood on the east side of the altar. They were Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and their relatives. They wore clothes made of linen. They made music with cymbals, harps and lyres. There were also 120 priests who made music with trumpets. ¹³ All these musicians made nice music together. They joined together to praise the Lord and to thank him. The singers sang loudly to the music of the trumpets, the cymbals and the other musical instruments. They loudly sang these words to praise the Lord:

Then a cloud filled the Lord's temple. ¹⁴ The priests could not do their work to serve the Lord, because of the cloud. The bright glory of the Lord filled his temple.

King Solomon speaks to the people

6 Then Solomon prayed, ‘Lord, you have said that you live in a dark cloud. ² Now I have built a great temple for you. It is a place where you can live for ever.’

³ While all the Israelite people stood there, the king turned round towards them. He prayed that God would bless them. ⁴ He said, ‘Praise the Lord, Israel's God, as he deserves. He has used his power to do what he promised to do for my father David. ⁵ He told David, “I brought my people out of Egypt. From that time, I have not chosen a city in any of Israel's tribes to build a temple where my people would worship me. I have not chosen a man to be the leader of my people, the Israelites. ⁶ But now I have chosen Jerusalem to be the place where my people worship me. And I have chosen David to rule Israel, my people, as king.”

⁷ My father David wanted very much to build a temple to give honour to the Lord, Israel's God. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, “It was good that you wanted to build a temple to give me honour. ⁹ But you will not build the temple. Instead, one of your own sons will build it to give honour to me.”

¹⁰ Now the Lord has done what he promised to do. I now rule Israel as king on the throne of my father David, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple to give honour to the Lord, Israel's God. ¹¹ I have put the Covenant Box there. It contains the covenant that the Lord made with the Israelites.’

Solomon prays to God

¹² Then Solomon stood in front of the Lord's altar. All the Israelite people who had come together there could see him. He lifted up his hands to pray. ¹³ He had made a bronze stage to stand on. It was 2.3 metres long, 2.3 metres wide and 1.4 metres high. He put it in the middle of the yard and he stood on it. Then he went down on his knees where all the Israelites could see him. He lifted up his hands towards the sky. ¹⁴ He prayed,

‘Lord, Israel's God, there is no God like you, either in heaven or on the earth. You continue to do what you have promised to do for your people. You faithfully love those who want to serve you. ¹⁵ You have done what you promised to do for your servant, my father David. You have used your power to finish today everything that you said you would do.

¹⁶ Now Lord, Israel's God, there is another promise that you spoke to my father David. I pray that you will do that too. You said to David, “There will always be one of your descendants to rule Israel as my chosen king. But for this to happen, your sons must be careful to obey my law, as you have done.” ¹⁷ So now Lord, Israel's God, please cause what you promised to your servant David to happen.

¹⁸ But surely God, you do not live on the earth with people! The whole sky, or even heaven itself, is too small to contain you! So how can you live in this temple that I have built? ¹⁹ But Lord, my God, please listen to my prayer, as I ask you for help. Please answer me, your servant, because I need your help. ²⁰ Watch over this temple and take care of it day and night. This is the place about which you said, “People will give honour to my name there.” Please answer my prayers when I turn towards this place to pray to you. ²¹ Hear the prayers of me, your servant, and the prayers of your people, the Israelites. Please answer us when we turn towards this place and we pray to you. Hear us from heaven, the place where you live. And when we pray, forgive us for our sins.

²² Somebody may do a bad thing against another person. Then he may come to this temple and stand in front of your altar. He may say to you that he is not guilty of any wrong thing. ²³ Then listen from heaven to what these people are saying. Decide who is right. Punish the guilty person as he deserves. Show clearly that the other person is right, because he has not done any wrong thing.

²⁴ Perhaps an enemy will win against your people, the Israelites, because we have not obeyed you. But then your people may turn back to you and worship you. They may come into this temple and pray that you will help them. ²⁵ If they do that, please hear them from heaven! Please forgive the sins of your people, the Israelites. Please bring them back to the land that you gave to their ancestors.

²⁶ Sometimes, there may be no rain from the sky because your people have not obeyed you. Then they may turn towards this place and pray to you. They may give honour to your name and turn away from their sins, because you have punished them. ²⁷ If they do that, please hear them from heaven! Please forgive the sins of your servants, your people, the Israelites. Teach them to live in the right way. And please send rain onto this land that you gave to your people, to belong to them for ever.

²⁸ Sometimes, there may be other troubles in our land. There may be a famine or a bad disease. Our crops may not grow and our animals may be ill. Locusts may destroy our crops. An enemy may attack some cities in our land. Or there may be other kinds of illness or trouble. ²⁹ Then, some of your people may pray to you and ask you for help. If someone is very sad and in pain, he may turn towards this temple and lift up his hands in prayer. ³⁰ If someone does that, please hear him from your home in heaven. Please forgive the sins of your people. Only you know what people are thinking. So please give to each person as they deserve. ³¹ Then your people will respect you and obey you all the time that they live in this land that you gave to our ancestors.

³² Foreigners, who do not belong to your people, the Israelites, will hear how great you are. They will hear about you and your power to do great things. Then they will come here from other countries far away. They will turn towards this temple and pray to you. ³³ When that happens, please hear them from your home in heaven. Please answer all the prayers of these foreign people. Then people from all the nations in the world will realize how great you are. They also will respect you and obey you, as your own people do. They will understand that this temple that I have built belongs to you.

³⁴ Sometimes, your people will go to fight against their enemies at the place where you have sent them. Then they may turn towards this city and pray to you. This is the city that you have chosen for me to build the temple to give you honour. ³⁵ When they pray to you, please hear them from your home in heaven. Do what is right to help them win against their enemies.

³⁶ There is nobody who never does a wrong thing. So when your people do not obey you, you will be angry with them. You will put them under the power of their enemies. Those enemies will take them away as their prisoners. Perhaps they will take them to a country that is far away. Perhaps it will be near. ³⁷ Then your people may think about the bad things that they have done. While they are prisoners in their enemies' country, they may be sorry about their sins. They may pray to you and ask you to forgive them. They may say, “We have turned away from God and we have done wicked things.” ³⁸ In the country where they are prisoners, they may turn back to you and worship you truly. They may turn towards this land that you gave to their ancestors. They may pray as they look towards this city that you have chosen. They may look towards the temple that I have built to give you honour. ³⁹ If they do that, please hear them from your home in heaven. Please answer their prayers and do what is right to help them. Please forgive your people for all the sins that they have done against you.

⁴⁰ Now, my God, please watch over us. Please listen to the prayers that we are praying in this place.

⁴¹ Lord God, come now and stay here, in your home. Come into the temple with the Covenant Box that shows your great power. Bless your priests as they serve you. Cause your faithful people be happy because you do good things for them. ⁴² Lord God do not turn away from your special chosen king. Remember the faithful love that you promised to your servant David.’

The glory of the Lord fills the temple

7 When King Solomon had finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven. It destroyed the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. The Lord's bright glory filled the temple. ² The priests could not go into the Lord's temple because the Lord's glory had completely filled it. ³ All the Israelites saw the fire come down. They also saw the Lord's glory above the temple. They went down on their knees on the flat stones of the yard, with their faces towards the ground. They worshipped the Lord and they thanked him. They said, ‘He is good. His faithful love continues for ever.’

⁴ Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered 22,000 cows and 120,000 sheep and goats as sacrifices. In this way the king and all the people offered the temple as a gift to God. ⁶ The priests and the Levites stood in their places. The Levites held the musical instruments that King David had made to thank the Lord. They sang these words to praise the Lord: ‘His faithful love continues for ever.’ The priests stood on the other side and they made music with their trumpets. All the Israelites were standing up while this was happening.

⁷ On the same day, Solomon gave to the Lord the yard that was in front of the temple. He offered burnt offerings and grain offerings to the Lord. He also offered the fat from the friendship offerings there. The bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to contain all these offerings, so he made these sacrifices in the middle of the yard instead.

⁸ At that time, Solomon and the big crowd of Israelites who were with him had a festival for seven days. There were people from everywhere in Israel, from Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south.^{[x] 9} On the day after the festival, they all met together. For seven days, they had given offerings to make the altar holy for God. For another seven days, they had enjoyed the festival. ¹⁰ Then Solomon sent the people away to their homes. That was on the 23rd day of the seventh month. The people were very happy and full of joy because the Lord had done many good things for King David, for King Solomon and for his people, the Israelites.