Prosperity and Wisdom of Solomon’s Reign

20 Judah and Israel were as numerous nas the sand by the sea in multitude, oeating and drinking and rejoicing. 21 So pSolomon reigned over all kingdoms from qthe 7River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. rThey brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 sNow Solomon’s 8provision for one day was thirty 9kors 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 1the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over tall the kings on this side of the River; and uhe had peace on every side all around him. 25 And Judah and Israel vdwelt 2safely, weach man under his vine and his fig tree, xfrom Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

26 ySolomon had 3forty thousand stalls of zhorses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27 And athese 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 bGod 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 cof the East and all dthe wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was ewiser than all men—fthan Ethan the Ezrahite, gand Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 hHe spoke three thousand proverbs, and his isongs 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, jcame to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

5 Now aHiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, bfor Hiram had always loved David. 2 Then cSolomon sent to Hiram, saying:

3 dYou know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God ebecause of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put 1his foes under the soles of his feet.

4 But now the Lord my God has given me frest 2on every side; there is neither adversary nor 3evil occurrence.

5 gAnd behold, 4I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, has the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”

6 Now therefore, command that they cut down icedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians.

7 So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said,

Blessed be the Lord this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!

8 Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying:

I have considered the message which you sent me, and I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress logs.

9 My servants shall bring them down jfrom Lebanon to the sea; I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you indicate to me, and will have them broken apart there; then you can take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire kby giving food for my household.

10 Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire. 11 lAnd Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand 5kors of wheat as food for his household, and 6twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.

12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, mas He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

13 Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; nAdoniram was in charge of the labor force. 15 oSolomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, 16 besides three thousand 7three hundred from the pchiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work. 17 And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and qhewn stones, to lay the foundation of the 8temple. 18 So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the 9temple.

Solomon Builds the Temple

6 And ait came to pass in the four hundred and 1eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of 2Ziv, which is the second month, bthat he began to build the house of the Lord. 2 Now cthe house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. 3 The vestibule in front of the 3sanctuary of the house was 4twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of 5the vestibule extended 6ten cubits from the front of the house. 4 And he made for the house dwindows with beveled frames.

5 Against the wall of the 7temple he built echambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary fand the 8inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it. 6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the 9temple. 7 And gthe temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 8 The doorway for the 1middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

9 hSo he built the 2temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. 10 And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

11 Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: 12 “Concerning this 3temple which you are building, iif you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My 4word with you, jwhich I spoke to your father David. 13 And kI will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not lforsake My people Israel.”

14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it. 15 And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. 16 Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the mMost Holy Place. 17 And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen.

19 And he prepared the 5inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold nthe entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

23 Inside the inner sanctuary ohe made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. 27 Then he set the cherubim inside the inner 6room; and pthey stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved qfigures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were 7one-fifth of the wall. 32 The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. 33 So for the door of the 8sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, 9one-fourth of the wall. 34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; rtwo panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. 35 Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.

36 And he built the sinner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

37 tIn the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of 1Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of 2Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was useven years in building it.