The Daily Audio Bible

Solomon Requests Wisdom

1 Solomon son of David strengthened himself in his kingdom; the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.^(A)

² Solomon summoned all Israel, the commanders of the thousands and of the hundreds, the judges, and all the leaders of all Israel, the heads of families.^{(B) 3} Then Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there.^{(C) 4} (But David had brought the ark of God up from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.)^{(D) 5} Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur had made was there in front of the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly inquired at it.^{(E) 6} Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.^(F)

⁷ That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I should give you.”^{(G) 8} Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to my father David and have made me succeed him as king.^{(H) 9} O Lord God, let your promise to my father David now be fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.^{(I) 10} Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of yours?”^{(J) 11} God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you and have not even asked for long life but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king,^{(K) 12} wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”^{(L) 13} So Solomon came from^[a] the high place at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.

Solomon’s Military and Commercial Activity

¹⁴ Solomon gathered together chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.^{(M) 15} The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamores of the Shephelah.^{(N) 16} Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue; the king’s traders received them from Kue at the prevailing price.^{(O) 17} They imported from Egypt (and then exported) a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty, so through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Preparations for Building the Temple

2 ^[b]Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^{(P) 2 [c]}Solomon conscripted seventy thousand laborers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country, with three thousand six hundred to oversee them.^(Q)

Alliance with Huram of Tyre

³ Solomon sent word to King Huram of Tyre, “Once you dealt with my father David and sent him cedar to build himself a house to live in.^{(R) 4} I am now about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for offering fragrant incense before him, and for the regular offering of the rows of bread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God, as ordained forever for Israel.^{(S) 5} The house that I am about to build will be great, for our God is greater than other gods.^{(T) 6} But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him except as a place to make offerings before him?^{(U) 7} So now send me an artisan skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to join the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.^{(V) 8} Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting Lebanon timber. My servants will work with your servants^{(W) 9} to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am about to build will be great and wonderful. ¹⁰ I will provide for your servants, those who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors of crushed wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths^[d] of wine, and twenty thousand baths^[e] of oil.”^(X)

¹¹ Then King Huram of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king over them.”^{(Y) 12} Huram also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son endowed with discretion and understanding who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^(Z)

¹³ “I have dispatched Huram-abi, a skilled artisan endowed with understanding, ¹⁴ the son of one of the Danite women, his father a Tyrian. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your artisans, the artisans of my lord, your father David.^{(AA) 15} Now, as for the wheat, barley, oil, and wine of which my lord has spoken, let him send them to his servants.^{(AB) 16} We will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you as rafts by sea to Joppa; you will take it up to Jerusalem.”^(AC)

¹⁷ Then Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were residing in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had taken, and there were found to be one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred.^{(AD) 18} Seventy thousand of them he assigned as laborers, eighty thousand as stonecutters in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers to make the people work.^(AE)

Solomon Builds the Temple

3 Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had designated, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.^{(AF) 2} He began to build on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign. ³ These are Solomon’s measurements^[f] for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits and the width twenty cubits. ⁴ The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, across the width of the house,^[g] and its height was one hundred twenty cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. ⁵ The great hall he lined with cypress, covered it with fine gold, and made palms and chains on it.^{(AG) 6} He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold from Parvaim. ⁷ So he lined the house with gold: its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.^(AH)

⁸ He made the most holy place; its length, corresponding to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold.^{(AI) 9} The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper chambers with gold.

¹⁰ In the most holy place he made two carved cherubim and overlaid^[h] them with gold.^{(AJ) 11} The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, five cubits long, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub; ¹² and of this cherub, one wing, five cubits long, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also five cubits long, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim^[i] stood on their feet facing the main hall. ¹⁴ And Solomon^[j] made the curtain of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen and worked cherubim into it.^(AK)

¹⁵ In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, each with a capital of five cubits on its top.^{(AL) 16} He made encircling^[k] chains and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made one hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. ¹⁷ He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right, the other on the left; the one on the right he called Jachin, and the one on the left, Boaz.^(AM)

Dying and Rising with Christ

6 What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase?^{(A) 2} By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?^{(B) 3} Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?^{(C) 4} Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.^(D)

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin.^{(E) 7} For whoever has died is freed^[a] from sin. ⁸ But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.^{(F) 10} The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.^{(G) 11} So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.^(H)

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires.^{(I) 13} No longer present your members to sin as instruments^[b] of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments^[c] of righteousness.^{(J) 14} For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.^(K)

Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?^{(L) 17} But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted^{(M) 18} and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness.^{(N) 19} I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations.^[d] For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.^(O)

²⁰ When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.^{(P) 21} So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death.^{(Q) 22} But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.^{(R) 23} For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.^(S)

Psalm 16

Song of Trust and Security in God

A Miktam of David.