Historical

Solomon Seeks Wisdom^(A)

1 Now Solomon the son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made Solomon exceedingly great.

² And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses. ³ Then they all went, Solomon and all the assembly that was with him, to the high place that was at Gibeon, because the tent of meeting with God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there. ⁴ However, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵ And the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was set before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out to seek the Lord. ⁶ And Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was before the tent of meeting, and he offered up a thousand burnt offerings on it.

⁷ That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I might give to you.”

⁸ Then Solomon said to God, “You have given a great mercy to David my father and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, may Your word to David my father be confirmed, for You have made me king over a people numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Now give wisdom and knowledge to me so that I might know how to go before this people, for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

¹¹ Then God responded to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart and you did not ask for possessions, wealth, and honor, or even the life of those who hate you, nor have you asked for many days of life, but you have asked Me for wisdom and knowledge that you might govern My people over whom I have made you king, ¹² wisdom and knowledge are now given to you. Possessions, wealth, and honor I will also give to you; such has not been given to kings before you nor those who will follow after you.”

¹³ So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

¹⁴ Solomon gathered together chariots and horses. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, and he put them in designated cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ The king made silver and gold in Jerusalem as abundant as stones and cedar as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowlands of the Shephelah. ¹⁶ The horses of Solomon were imported from Egypt and Kue, and the traders of the king would take them from Kue for a price. ¹⁷ They imported chariots from Egypt for six hundred shekels^[a] of silver and a horse for one hundred and fifty pieces.^[b] And they imported from these places to all the kings of the Hittites and Arameans.

Plans for Building the Temple^(B)

2 Now Solomon wanted to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal house for his kingship. ² And Solomon designated seventy thousand men to carry materials, eighty thousand men to cut stone in the hills, and three thousand six hundred supervisors to oversee these men.

³ And Solomon sent word to Hiram^[c] king of Tyre saying,

“As you did for David my father and sent him cedar trees in order to build for himself a house in which to dwell, so deal with me. ⁴ I am going to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God, sanctified for Him, for making sacrifices before Him, and for incense of fragrant spices, and for the continual showbread, for burnt offerings on both morning and evening, and for Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as an ordinance forever for Israel.

⁵ “And the house that I am building will be great because our God is greater than all other gods. ⁶ But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I that I build a house for Him, except to make offerings before Him?

⁷ “Now may you send to me a wise man who works with gold, silver, bronze, iron, and in purple, crimson, and violet threads and knows how to engrave, who will be with the skilled workers and me in Judah and Jerusalem, which David my father established.

⁸ “And may you send me trees of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon because I realize that your slaves know how to cut timber in Lebanon; and my servants will be alongside your servants, ⁹ to prepare an abundance of timber for me, because the temple that I will build will be great and marvelous. ¹⁰ I will provide for the woodsmen, your servants who cut timber, twenty thousand dry kors^[d] of crushed wheat, twenty thousand kors^[e] of barley, twenty thousand liquid baths^[f] of wine, and twenty thousand liquid baths of oil.”

¹¹ Then Hiram king of Tyre responded in a letter that he sent to Solomon,

“Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.”

¹² And Hiram said,

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who made heaven and earth and has given King David a wise son, having insight and understanding, who is building a temple for the Lord and a royal house for his kingship.

¹³ “And now I have sent a skilled man, endowed with understanding, Huram-Abi, ¹⁴ the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan and the son of a man of Tyre, who knows gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood, and purple, violet, blue, and crimson threads, and who knows how to make all types of engravings and to devise every type of design that is given to him, with your skilled men and the skilled men of my lord David your father.

¹⁵ “Now the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine that my lord has declared, may he send these items to his slaves. ¹⁶ And let us cut the timber from Lebanon, whatever you need, and we will bring it to you on rafts on the sea to Joppa, and you will bring it up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷ Then Solomon numbered all the male foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the census that David his father had taken. And there were found one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸ And he made seventy thousand of them to carry materials, eighty thousand to cut stone in the hills, and three thousand six hundred supervisors to make the people work.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(C)

3 So Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where He appeared to David his father, at the place that David established on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ² He began to build in the second month^[g] on the second day during the fourth year of his reign.^[h]

³ These are the foundation measurements that Solomon used for building the house of God. The cubit^[i] length in the former standard measure was sixty cubits and the width twenty cubits.^{[j] 4} The porch vestibule that was in front of the nave hall had its length, like the width of the house, as twenty cubits,^[k] and its height was one hundred and twenty cubits;^[l] and he overlaid the inside with pure gold.

⁵ And he paneled the great house with cypress trees and then covered it with fine gold. Then he decorated it with palm trees and chain work. ⁶ And he overlaid the house with precious stones for decoration, and the gold was from Parvaim. ⁷ And he covered the house—its beams, thresholds, walls, and doors—with gold, and he engraved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ Then he made the dwelling of the Most Holy Place. Its length was as the width of twenty cubits, and its width also twenty cubits; and he covered it with fine gold, six hundred talents^[m] worth. ⁹ And the weight in gold for the nails was fifty shekels.^[n] And he covered the upper chamber in gold.

¹⁰ Then in the dwelling of the Most Holy Place, he made two cherubim that were cast metal and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ And the wings of the cherubim were the length of twenty cubits. The wing of one cherub was five cubits, reaching the wall of the house, and the wing of the other was five cubits,^[o] reaching to the wing of the other cherub. ¹² And the wing of this cherub was five cubits, reaching to the other wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the first cherub. ¹³ So the wings of these cherubim spread out were twenty cubits; they were upright on their feet facing inward toward the house.

¹⁴ Then he made the curtain of violet, purple, crimson, and blue thread, and he wove cherubim into it.

¹⁵ And he made two pillars in front of the house thirty-five cubits^[p] high, with a five cubit capital on the top of the pillar. ¹⁶ Then he made ornamental chain work, like in the Most Holy Place, and set it on the top of the pillars. Then he designed a hundred pomegranates and set them on the chain work. ¹⁷ He then raised the pillars in front of the temple, with one on the right to the south and the other on the left to the north, and the pillar to the south he called Jakin, and the pillar to the north he called Boaz.

The Furnishings of the Temple^(D)

4 Then he made a bronze altar that was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits^[q] high. ² And he made a cast metal sea as a water basin. It was round and ten cubits from edge to edge, five cubits high,^[r] and a line of thirty cubits^[s] measured its circumference. ³ Figures like oxen were underneath it, going all the way around the sea basin, ten cubits^[t] on each side.^[u] There were two rows of oxen that were poured as cast metal.

⁴ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and their back sides were facing inward. ⁵ The thickness of the sea was a palm,^[v] and its brim was like the brim of a cup, as the flower of a lily. It held three thousand baths^[w] securely.

⁶ Then he made ten water basins, and he set five on the southern right side and five on the northern left side to rinse off in them the instruments of the burnt offering. And the sea basin was for the priests to wash in.

⁷ And he made ten lampstands of gold according to the specifications, and he set them in the temple, five on the southern, right side and five on the northern, left side.

⁸ Then he made ten tables and put them in the temple, five on the southern, right side and five on the northern, left side; and he made a hundred basins of gold.

⁹ Then he made the court of the priests and the great enclosure and the doors for the enclosure, and he overlaid the doors with bronze. ¹⁰ And he set the sea basin at the southeast side, opposite the southern side of the house.

¹¹ And Huram made the pots, shovels, and bowls.

So Huram completed the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: ¹² the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; ¹³ and the four hundred pomegranates for the two pieces of grating, with two rows of pomegranates for each screen grate that covered the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars. ¹⁴ And he made the supporting stands and the basins on top of the stands, ¹⁵ and the sea basin and the twelve oxen underneath it; ¹⁶ the pots, shovels, utensils, and all the vessels from polished bronze, Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

¹⁷ The king cast these vessels in the district of the Jordan in earthen foundries between Sukkoth and Zeredatha.^{[x] 18} And Solomon made all of these items in a great abundance such that they did not consider the weight of the bronze.

¹⁹ So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the gold altar and the tables displaying the showbread, ²⁰ and the finely hammered lampstands with their lamps to burn before the Most Holy Place as prescribed; ²¹ the golden flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, of purest gold; ²² the snuffers, basins, ladles, and fire pans, of pure gold. As for the entrance to the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.