2 Chronicles 1-6
New American Standard Bible
2And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands, of hundreds, and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households.
3Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon, because God’s tent of meeting was there which Moses, the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.
4However, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.
5Now the bronze altar which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out.
6And Solomon went up there before the Lord to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
8And Solomon said to God, 'You have dealt with my father David with great faithfulness, and have made me king in his place.
9Now, Lord God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
10Now give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?'
11Then God said to Solomon, 'Because this was in your heart, and you did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor did you even ask for long life, but you asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge so that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king,
12wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed, nor will those who will come after you.'
13So Solomon went from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.
14Solomon amassed chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
15The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamores in the lowland.
16Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s traders acquired them from Kue for a price.
17They imported chariots from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver apiece, horses for 150 apiece, and by the same means they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Chapter 2
1Now Solomon decided to build a house for the name of the Lord, and a royal palace for himself. 2So Solomon assigned seventy thousand men to carry loads, eighty thousand men to quarry stone in the mountains, and 3,600 to supervise them.
3Then Solomon sent word to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, 'As you dealt with my father David and sent him cedars to build him a house to live in, do it for me.
4Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, dedicating it to Him, to burn fragrant incense before Him and to set out the showbread continually, and to offer burnt offerings morning and evening, on Sabbaths, on new moons, and on the appointed feasts of the Lord our God. This is to be done in Israel forever.
5The house which I am about to build will be great, for our God is greater than all the gods.
6But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? And who am I, that I should build a house for Him, except to burn incense before Him?
7Now send me a skilled man to work in gold, silver, brass, iron, and in purple, crimson, and violet fabrics, one who knows how to make engravings, to work with the skilled workers whom I have in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.
8Send me also cedar, juniper, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber of Lebanon; and indeed my servants will work with your servants,
9to prepare timber in abundance for me, for the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful.
10Now behold, I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand kors of crushed wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.'
11Then Huram, king of Tyre, answered in a letter sent to Solomon: 'Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.'
12Then Huram continued, 'Blessed be the Lord, the 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 house for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
13Now then, I am sending Huram-abi, a skilled man, endowed with understanding,
14the son of a Danite woman and a Tyrian father, who knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, violet, linen, and crimson fabrics, and who knows how to make all kinds of engravings and to execute any design which is assigned to him, to work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, your father David.
15Now then, let my lord send his servants wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which he has spoken.
16We will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you as rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may carry it up to Jerusalem.'
17Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, following the census which his father David had taken; and 153,600 were found.
18He appointed seventy thousand of them to carry loads and eighty thousand to quarry stones in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.
Chapter 3
1Then 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 prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2He began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.
3Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits.
4The porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height twenty; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.
5He overlaid the main room with juniper wood and overlaid it with fine gold; and he ornamented it with palm trees and chains.
6Further, he overlaid the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim.
7He also overlaid the house with gold—the beams, the thresholds, and its walls and doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8Then he made the room of the Most Holy Place: its length across the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
9The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
10Then he made two sculptured cherubim in the room of the Most Holy Place and overlaid them with gold.
11The wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub.
12The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing, of five cubits, was attached to the wing of the first cherub.
13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet facing the main room.
14He made the veil of violet, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and he worked cherubim into it.
15He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits.
16He made chains in the inner sanctuary and placed them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates and placed them on the chains.
17He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.
Chapter 4
1Then he made a bronze altar, twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and ten cubits in height. 2He also made the Sea of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits and its circumference thirty cubits. 3Now figures like oxen were under it and all around it, ten cubits, entirely encircling the Sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast in one piece. 4It was standing on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inward. 5It was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it could hold three thousand baths. 6He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.
7Then he made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them, and he set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.
8He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made a hundred golden bowls.
9Then he made the courtyard of the priests and the great courtyard, and doors for the courtyard, and overlaid their doors with bronze.
10He put the Sea on the right side of the house toward the southeast.
11Huram also made the pails, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God:
12the two pillars, the bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars,
13and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars.
14He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands,
15and the one Sea with the twelve oxen under it.
16The pails, the shovels, the forks, and all its utensils, Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon, for the house of the Lord.
17On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.
18So Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be determined.
19Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables with the bread of the Presence on them,
20the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed;
21the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, that is, of purest gold;
22and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the Most Holy Place and the doors of the house, that is, of the main room, of gold.
2Then Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, which is Zion.
3All the men of Israel assembled themselves before the king at the feast, that is in the seventh month.
4Then all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark.
5They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the tent. The Levitical priests brought them up.
6And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled with him before the ark were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.
7Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.
8For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles.
9The poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and they are there to this day.
10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
11When the priests came out from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to divisions),
12and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests blowing trumpets
13in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they raised their voices accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, and when they praised the Lord saying, 'He indeed is good for His kindness is everlasting,' then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,
14so that the priests could not rise to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Chapter 6
1Then Solomon said, 'The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. 2I have built You a lofty house, And a place for Your dwelling forever.'
3Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
4He said, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying,
5‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, so that My name might be there, nor did I choose a man to be the leader over My people Israel;
6but I have chosen Jerusalem so that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
7Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.
9Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.’
10Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
11There I have placed the ark in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.'
12Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
13For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.
14He said, 'Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping Your covenant and Your faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;
15You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
16Now then, Lord, God of Israel, keep to Your servant David, my father, that which You promised him, saying, ‘ You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay attention to their way, to walk in My Law as you have walked before Me.’
17Now then, Lord, God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.
18But will God really dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built!
19Nevertheless, turn Your attention to the prayer of Your servant and to his plea, Lord, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You;
20that Your eye will be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.
21Listen to the pleadings of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; hear and forgive.
22If someone sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house,
23then hear from heaven and take action and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by repaying him according to his righteousness.
24If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and praise Your name, and pray and plead before You in this house,
25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.
26When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them,
27then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel; indeed, teach them the good way in which they are to walk. And provide rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
28If there is a famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is,
29whatever prayer or plea is made by anyone or by all Your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house,
30then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know—for You alone know the hearts of the sons of mankind—
31so that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.
32Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country on account of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,
33then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.
34When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,
35then hear from heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their cause.
36When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You are angry with them and turn them over to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near,
37if they take it to heart in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and plead to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and have acted wickedly’;
38if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name,
39then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and pleadings, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
King James Version
2Then Solomon spoke unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers.
3So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.
4But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.
5Moreover the brazen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.
6And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.
7In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.
8And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast showed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.
9Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.
10Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?
11And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:
12Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.
13Then Solomon came from his journey to the high place that was at Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tabernacle of the congregation, and reigned over Israel.
14And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
15And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance.
16And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
17And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so brought they out horses for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, by their means.
Chapter 2
1And Solomon determined to build a house for the name of the Lord, and a house for his kingdom. 2And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.
3And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house to dwell therein, even so deal with me.
4Behold, I build a house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.
5And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.
6But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?
7Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
8Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
9Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.
10And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
11Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them.
12Huram said moreover, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build a house for the Lord, and a house for his kingdom.
13And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's,
14The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.
15Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:
16And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.
17And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found a hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.
18And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.
Chapter 3
1Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
4And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was a hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
5And the greater house he ceiled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
6And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim.
7He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.
8And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
9And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold.
11And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
12And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.
13The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.
14And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
15Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.
17And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
Chapter 4
1Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof. 2Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. 3And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast. 4It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 5And the thickness of it was a handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths. 6He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.
7And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.
8He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made a hundred basins of gold.
9Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.
10And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south.
11And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;
12To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars;
13And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were upon the pillars.
14He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;
15One sea, and twelve oxen under it.
16The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the Lord of bright brass.
17In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredathah.
18Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out.
19And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread was set;
20Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold;
21And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold;
22And the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.
Chapter 5
1Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God. 2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. 3Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month. 4And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark. 5And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up. 6Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
7And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:
8For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
9And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.
10There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
11And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course:
12Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets: )
13It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
14So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.
Chapter 6
1Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 2But I have built a house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling forever. 3And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood. 4And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying, 5Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: 6But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. 7Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 8But the Lord said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart: 9Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name. 10The Lord therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 11And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, that he made with the children of Israel.
12And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
13For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,
14And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:
15Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
16Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
17Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.
18But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
19Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:
20That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
21Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
22If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;
23Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.
24And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;
25Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
26When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;
27Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
28If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
29Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:
30Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men: )
31That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
32Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
33Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
34If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
35Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;
37Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
38If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:
39Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.
40Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
41Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
42O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 1
1Solomon son of David strengthened his hold on his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him and highly exalted him. 2Then Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel—the family heads. 3Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was in Gibeon because God’s tent of meeting, which the Lord’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness, was there. 4Now David had brought the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had set up for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem, 5but he put the bronze altar, which Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there. 6Solomon offered sacrifices there in the Lord’s presence on the bronze altar at the tent of meeting; he offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
8And Solomon said to God: "You have shown great and faithful love to my father David, and you have made me king in his place.
9Lord God, let your promise to my father David now come true. For you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
10Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people, for who can judge this great people of yours?"
11God said to Solomon, "Since this was in your heart, and you have not requested riches, wealth, or glory, or for the life of those who hate you, and you have not even requested long life, but you have requested for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may judge my people over whom I have made you king,
12wisdom and knowledge are given to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and glory, unlike what was given to the kings who were before you, or will be given to those after you."
13So Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place that was in Gibeon in front of the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.
14Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
15The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills.
16Solomon’s horses came from Egypt and Kue. The king’s traders would get them from Kue at the going price.
17A chariot could be imported from Egypt for fifteen pounds of silver and a horse for nearly four pounds. In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.
Chapter 2
1Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself, 2so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them.
3Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram of Tyre: Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.
4Now I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God in order to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for displaying the rows of the Bread of the Presence continuously, and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening, the Sabbaths and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel permanently.
5The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.
6But who is able to build a temple for him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain him? Who am I then that I should build a temple for him except as a place to burn incense before him?
7Therefore, send me an artisan who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the artisans who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, appointed by my father David.
8Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants
9to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wondrous.
10I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, one hundred thousand bushels of wheat flour, one hundred thousand bushels of barley, one hundred ten thousand gallons of wine, and one hundred ten thousand gallons of oil.
12Hiram also said: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
13I have now sent Huram-abi, a skillful man who has understanding.
14He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your artisans and the artisans of my lord, your father David.
15Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised.
16We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.
17Solomon took a census of all the resident alien men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted, and the total was 153,600.
18Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.
Chapter 3
1Then Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. 3These are Solomon’s foundations for building God’s temple: the length was ninety feet, and the width thirty feet. 4The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was thirty feet wide; its height was thirty feet; he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. 5The larger room he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. 6He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. 7He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet. He overlaid it with forty-five thousand pounds of fine gold.
9The weight of the nails was twenty ounces of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.
10He made two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold.
11The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub.
12The wing of the other cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub.
13The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.
15In front of the temple he made two pillars, each 27 feet high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high.
16He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars. He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork.
17Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.
2Then he made the cast metal basin, 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet high and 45 feet in circumference.
3The likeness of oxen was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard, completely surrounding the basin. The oxen were cast in two rows when the basin was cast.
4It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center.
5The basin was three inches thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.
7He made the ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.
8He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
9He made the courtyard of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze.
10He put the basin on the right side, toward the southeast.
11Then Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple:
12two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars;
13the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars ).
14He also made the water carts and the basins on the water carts.
15The one basin and the twelve oxen underneath it,
16the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze.
17The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah.
18Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the Bread of the Presence;
20the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;
21the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold;
22the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles, and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.
2At that time Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, that is, Zion.
3So all the men of Israel were assembled in the king’s presence at the festival; this was in the seventh month.
4All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark.
5They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up.
6King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many.
7The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.
8And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles.
9The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are still there today.
10Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb, where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.
11Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions. When the priests came out of the holy place,
12the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets. The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons and relatives.
13The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the Lord: For he is good; his faithful love endures forever. The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud.
14And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.
Chapter 6
1Then Solomon said: The Lord said he would dwell in total darkness, 2but I have built an exalted temple for you, a place for your residence forever.
4He said: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel! He spoke directly to my father David, and he has fulfilled the promise by his power. He said,
5"Since the day I brought my people Israel out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city to build a temple in among any of the tribes of Israel, so that my name would be there, and I have not chosen a man to be ruler over my people Israel.
6But I have chosen Jerusalem so that my name will be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel."
7My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8However, the Lord said to my father David, "Since it was your desire to build a temple for my name, you have done well to have this desire.
9Yet, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own offspring, will build the temple for my name."
10So the Lord has fulfilled what he promised. I have taken the place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
11I have put the ark there, where the Lord’s covenant is that he made with the Israelites.
12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands.
13For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet long, 7½ feet wide, and 4½ feet high and put it in the court. He stood on it, knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.
14He said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, who keeps his gracious covenant with your servants who walk before you with all their heart.
15You have kept what you promised to your servant, my father David. You spoke directly to him, and you fulfilled your promise by your power, as it is today.
16Therefore, Lord God of Israel, keep what you promised to your servant, my father David: "You will never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons guard their way to walk in my Law as you have walked before me."
17Now, Lord God of Israel, please confirm what you promised to your servant David.
18But will God indeed live on earth with humans? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this temple I have built.
19Listen to your servant’s prayer and his petition, Lord my God, so that you may hear the cry and the prayer that your servant prays before you,
20so that your eyes watch over this temple day and night, toward the place where you said you would put your name; and so that you may hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.
21Hear the petitions of your servant and your people Israel, which they pray toward this place. May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven. May you hear and forgive.
22If a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath and he comes to take an oath before your altar in this temple,
23may you hear in heaven and act. May you judge your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing what he has done on his own head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24If your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against you, and they return to you and praise your name, and they pray and plead for mercy before you in this temple,
25may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel. May you restore them to the land you gave them and their ancestors.
26When the skies are shut and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray toward this place and praise your name, and they turn from their sins because you are afflicting them,
27may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, so that you may teach them the good way they should walk in. May you send rain on your land that you gave your people for an inheritance.
28When there is famine in the land, when there is pestilence, when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, when their enemies besiege them in the land and its cities, when there is any plague or illness,
29every prayer or petition that any person or that all your people Israel may have— they each know their own affliction and suffering— as they spread out their hands toward this temple,
30may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and may you forgive and give to everyone according to all their ways, since you know each heart, for you alone know the human heart,
31so that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days they live on the land you gave our ancestors.
32Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your strong hand and outstretched arm: when he comes and prays toward this temple,
33may you hear in heaven in your dwelling place, and do all the foreigner asks you. Then all the peoples of the earth will know your name, to fear you as your people Israel do and know that this temple I have built bears your name.
34When your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and they pray to you in the direction of this city you have chosen and the temple that I have built for your name,
35may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven and uphold their cause.
36When they sin against you— for there is no one who does not sin — and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their captors deport them to a distant or nearby country,
37and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition you in their captors’ land, saying: "We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,"
38and when they return to you with all their mind and all their heart in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive, and when they pray in the direction of their land that you gave their ancestors, and the city you have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for your name,
39may you hear their prayer and petitions in heaven, your dwelling place, and uphold their cause. May you forgive your people who sinned against you.
40Now, my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.
41Now therefore: Arise, Lord God, come to your resting place, you and your powerful ark. May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and may your faithful people rejoice in goodness.
42 Lord God, do not reject your anointed one; remember the promises to your servant David.
New Living Translation
2Solomon called together all the leaders of Israel — the generals and captains of the army, the judges, and all the political and clan leaders.
3Then he led the entire assembly to the place of worship in Gibeon, for God’s Tabernacle was located there. (This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had made in the wilderness.)
4David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem.
5But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was there at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the Lord. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the Lord.
6There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
8Solomon replied to God, 'You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place.
9O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth!
10Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?'
11God said to Solomon, 'Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people —
12I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!'
14Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem.
15The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.
16Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Cilicia ; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price.
17At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver, and horses for 150 pieces of silver. They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Chapter 2
1Solomon decided to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord, and also a royal palace for himself. 2He enlisted a force of 70,000 laborers, 80,000 men to quarry stone in the hill country, and 3,600 foremen.
3Solomon also sent this message to King Hiram at Tyre: 'Send me cedar logs as you did for my father, David, when he was building his palace.
4I am about to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God. It will be a place set apart to burn fragrant incense before him, to display the special sacrificial bread, and to sacrifice burnt offerings each morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at new moon celebrations, and at the other appointed festivals of the Lord our God. He has commanded Israel to do these things forever.
5'This must be a magnificent Temple because our God is greater than all other gods.
6But who can really build him a worthy home? Not even the highest heavens can contain him! So who am I to consider building a Temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices to him?
8'Also send me cedar, cypress, and red sandalwood logs from Lebanon, for I know that your men are without equal at cutting timber in Lebanon. I will send my men to help them.
9An immense amount of timber will be needed, for the Temple I am going to build will be very large and magnificent.
10In payment for your woodcutters, I will send 100,000 bushels of crushed wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil. '
11King Hiram sent this letter of reply to Solomon: 'It is because the Lord loves his people that he has made you their king!
12Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given King David a wise son, gifted with skill and understanding, who will build a Temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
13'I am sending you a master craftsman named Huram-abi, who is extremely talented.
14His mother is from the tribe of Dan in Israel, and his father is from Tyre. He is skillful at making things from gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and he also works with stone and wood. He can work with purple, blue, and scarlet cloth and fine linen. He is also an engraver and can follow any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and those appointed by my lord David, your father.
15'Send along the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine that my lord has mentioned.
16We will cut whatever timber you need from the Lebanon mountains and will float the logs in rafts down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa. From there you can transport the logs up to Jerusalem.'
17Solomon took a census of all foreigners in the land of Israel, like the census his father had taken, and he counted 153,600.
18He assigned 70,000 of them as common laborers, 80,000 as quarry workers in the hill country, and 3,600 as foremen.
Chapter 3
1So Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David, his father. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that David had selected. 2The construction began in midspring, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign.
3These are the dimensions Solomon used for the foundation of the Temple of God (using the old standard of measurement). It was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide.
4The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.
5He paneled the main room of the Temple with cypress wood, overlaid it with fine gold, and decorated it with carvings of palm trees and chains.
6He decorated the walls of the Temple with beautiful jewels and with gold from the land of Parvaim.
7He overlaid the beams, thresholds, walls, and doors throughout the Temple with gold, and he carved figures of cherubim on the walls.
8He made the Most Holy Place 30 feet wide, corresponding to the width of the Temple, and 30 feet deep. He overlaid its interior with 23 tons of fine gold.
9The gold nails that were used weighed 20 ounces each. He also overlaid the walls of the upper rooms with gold.
10He made two figures shaped like cherubim, overlaid them with gold, and placed them in the Most Holy Place.
11The total wingspan of the two cherubim standing side by side was 30 feet. One wing of the first figure was 7 1/2 feet long, and it touched the Temple wall. The other wing, also 7 1/2 feet long, touched one of the wings of the second figure.
12In the same way, the second figure had one wing 7 1/2 feet long that touched the opposite wall. The other wing, also 7 1/2 feet long, touched the wing of the first figure.
13So the wingspan of the two cherubim side by side was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced out toward the main room of the Temple.
15For the front of the Temple, he made two pillars that were 27 feet tall, each topped by a capital extending upward another 7 1/2 feet.
16He made a network of interwoven chains and used them to decorate the tops of the pillars. He also made 100 decorative pomegranates and attached them to the chains.
17Then he set up the two pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one to the south of the entrance and the other to the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz.
Chapter 4
1Solomon also made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high. 2Then he cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7 1/2 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference. 3It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of figures that resembled oxen. There were about six oxen per foot all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin.
4The Sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east, and the Sea rested on them.
5The walls of the Sea were about three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. It could hold about 16,500 gallons of water.
9He then built a courtyard for the priests, and also the large outer courtyard. He made doors for the courtyard entrances and overlaid them with bronze.
10The great bronze basin called the Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple.
12the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two networks of interwoven chains that decorated the capitals;
13the 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals (two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that decorated the capitals on top of the pillars);
14the water carts holding the basins;
15the Sea and the twelve oxen under it;
16the ash buckets, the shovels, the meat hooks, and all the related articles. Huram-abi made all these things of burnished bronze for the Temple of the Lord, just as King Solomon had directed.
17The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.
18Solomon used such great quantities of bronze that its weight could not be determined.
19Solomon also made all the furnishings for the Temple of God: the gold altar; the tables for the Bread of the Presence;
20the lampstands and their lamps of solid gold, to burn in front of the Most Holy Place as prescribed;
21the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs — all of the purest gold;
22the lamp snuffers, bowls, ladles, and incense burners — all of solid gold; the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple, overlaid with gold.
2Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of tribes — the leaders of the ancestral families of Israel. They were to bring the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion.
3So all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn.
4When all the elders of Israel arrived, the Levites picked up the Ark.
5The priests and Levites brought up the Ark along with the special tent and all the sacred items that had been in it.
6There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!
7Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple — the Most Holy Place — and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim.
8The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles.
9These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day.
10Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left Egypt.
11Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were present had purified themselves, whether or not they were on duty that day.
12And the Levites who were musicians — Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and all their sons and brothers — were dressed in fine linen robes and stood at the east side of the altar playing cymbals, lyres, and harps. They were joined by 120 priests who were playing trumpets.
13The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words: 'He is good! His faithful love endures forever!' At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord.
14The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God.
Chapter 6
1Then Solomon prayed, 'O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. 2Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!'
3Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing:
4Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father,
5‘From the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. Nor have I chosen a king to lead my people Israel.
6But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place for my name to be honored, and I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’'
7Then Solomon said, 'My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good,
9but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’
10And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
11There I have placed the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with the people of Israel.'
12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel, and he lifted his hands in prayer.
13Now Solomon had made a bronze platform 7 1/2 feet long, 7 1/2 feet wide, and 4 1/2 feet high and had placed it at the center of the Temple’s outer courtyard. He stood on the platform, and then he knelt in front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his hands toward heaven.
14He prayed, 'O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.
15You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.
16'And now, O Lord, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow my Law as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’
17Now, O Lord, God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David.
18'But will God really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!
19Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you.
20May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.
21May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.
22'If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar at this Temple,
23then hear from heaven and judge between your servants — the accuser and the accused. Pay back the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.
24'If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn back and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,
25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave to them and to their ancestors.
26'If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them,
27then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession.
28'If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns — whatever disaster or disease there is —
29and if your people Israel pray about their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this Temple,
30then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart.
31Then they will fear you and walk in your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.
32'In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands when they hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple,
33then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.
34'If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to you by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name,
35then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.
36'If they sin against you — and who has never sinned? — you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to a foreign land far away or near.
37But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’
38If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their captivity and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors — toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name —
39then hear their prayers and their petitions from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.
41'And now arise, O Lord God, and enter your resting place, along with the Ark, the symbol of your power. May your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation; may your loyal servants rejoice in your goodness.
42O Lord God, do not reject the king you have anointed. Remember your unfailing love for your servant David.'
English Standard Version
2Solomon 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.
3And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there.
4(But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.)
5Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out.
6And 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.
7In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, "Ask what I shall give you."
8And Solomon said to God, "You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place.
9O Lord God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
10Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?"
11God 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 govern my people over whom I have made you king,
12wisdom 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."
13So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.
14Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
15And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah.
16And Solomon 's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king 's traders would buy them from Kue for a price.
17They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Chapter 2
1Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal palace for himself. 2And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 to oversee them. 3And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: "As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained forever for Israel. 5The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6But 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? 7So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, 9to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. 10I will give for your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, 20,000 cors of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil."
11Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, "Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king over them."
12Hiram also said, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
13"Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi,
14the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. 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 craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father.
15Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants.
16And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem."
17Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found 153,600.
18Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.
Chapter 3
1Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3These are Solomon 's measurements for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold and made palms and chains on it. 6He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7So he lined the house with gold — its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors — and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold.
9The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood and overlaid them with gold.
11The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub;
12and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub.
13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim stood on their feet, facing the nave.
14And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.
15In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each.
16He made chains like a necklace and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.
17He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.
Chapter 4
1He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. 2Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3Under it were figures of gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 4It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 5Its thickness was a handbreadth. And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 3,000 baths. 6He also made ten basins in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in.
7And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.
8He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold.
9He made the court of the priests and the great court and doors for the court and overlaid their doors with bronze.
10And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.
11Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God:
12the 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;
13and the 400 pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars.
14He made the stands also, and the basins on the stands,
15and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it.
16The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.
17In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.
18Solomon made all these things in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze was not sought.
19So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence,
20the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed;
21the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold;
22the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold, and the sockets of the temple, for the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.
2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers ' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
3And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month.
4And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.
5And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.
6And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.
7Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.
8The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles.
9And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.
10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
11And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions,
12and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters;
13and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever," the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,
Chapter 6
1Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 2But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever." 3Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4And he said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 5‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; 6but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 7Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 9Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 10Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel."
12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
13Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven,
14and said, "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,
15who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day.
16Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’
17Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.
18"But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!
19Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you,
20that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.
21And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
22"If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house,
23then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24"If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house,
25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.
26"When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,
27then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
28"If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,
29whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house,
30then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind,
31that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.
32"Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house,
33hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
34"If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,
35then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.
36"If they sin against you — for there is no one who does not sin — and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near,
37yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’
38if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,
39then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.
41"And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.
42O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant."
New International Version
2Then Solomon spoke to all Israel—to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families—
3and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness.
4Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.
5But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the Lord; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there.
6Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord in the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
8Solomon answered God, "You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place.
9Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth.
10Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
11God said to Solomon, "Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king,
12therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have."
14Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
15The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills.
16Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue —the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price.
17They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.
Chapter 2
1Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. 2He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.
3Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: "Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in.
4Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
5"The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.
6But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
8"Send me also cedar, juniper and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours
9to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent.
10I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil."
13"I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill,
14whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.
15"Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised,
16and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem."
17Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600.
18He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.
Chapter 3
1Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 2He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
4The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits long across the width of the building and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.
5He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs.
6He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim.
7He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8He built the Most Holy Place, its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents of fine gold.
9The gold nails weighed fifty shekels. He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.
10For the Most Holy Place he made a pair of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold.
11The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub.
12Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub.
13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.
14He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it.
15For the front of the temple he made two pillars, which together were thirty-five cubits long, each with a capital five cubits high.
16He made interwoven chains and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates and attached them to the chains.
17He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.
Chapter 4
1He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. 2He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. 3Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit. The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.
4The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center.
5It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.
9He made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze.
10He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.
16the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles. All the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze.
17The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan.
18All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze could not be calculated.
21the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);
22the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.
2Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.
3And all the Israelites came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month.
4When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark,
5and they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The Levitical priests carried them up;
6and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.
7The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.
8The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles.
9These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.
10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
11The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions.
12All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.
13The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud,
14and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
Chapter 6
1Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 2I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever."
4Then he said: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David. For he said,
5‘Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel.
6But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.’
7"My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name.
9Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’
10"The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
11There I have placed the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel."
12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
13Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.
14He said: "Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
15You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.
16"Now, Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.’
17And now, Lord, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.
18"But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
19Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence.
20May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.
21Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
22"When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple,
23then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.
24"When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple,
25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.
26"When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them,
27then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
28"When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come,
29and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—
30then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart),
31so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
32"As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple,
33then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
34"When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name,
35then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.
36"When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near;
37and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’;
38and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name;
39then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.
New King James Version
2And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses.
3Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.
4But David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.
5Now the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the Lord; Solomon and the assembly sought Him there.
6And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
8And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place.
9Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.
10Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”
11Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king—
12wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
13So Solomon came to Jerusalem from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel.
14And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
15Also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
16And Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price.
17They also acquired and imported from Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty; thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Chapter 2
1Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. 2Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
3Then Solomon sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.
4Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.
5And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
6 But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
7Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
8 Also send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with your servants,
9to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.
10 And indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
12Hiram also said: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself!
13And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram my master craftsman
14 (the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.
15Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants.
16 And we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.
17Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.
18And he made seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.
Chapter 3
1Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
3This is the foundation which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits.
4And the vestibule that was in front of the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.
5The larger room he paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it.
6And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim.
7He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold.
9The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper area with gold.
10In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold.
11The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub;
12one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub.
13The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward.
14And he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.
15Also he made in front of the temple two pillars thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork.
17Then he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand Jachin, and the name of the one on the left Boaz.
2Then he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
3And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
4It stood on twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward.
5It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained three thousand baths.
6He also made ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.
7And he made ten lampstands of gold according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.
8He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred bowls of gold.
9Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze.
10He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.
11Then Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God:
12the two pillars and the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars;
13four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars);
14he also made carts and the lavers on the carts;
15one Sea and twelve oxen under it;
16also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles Huram his master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.
17In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and Zeredah.
18And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was the showbread;
20the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary,
21with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold;
22the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.
2Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the City of David, which is Zion.
3Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month.
4So all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.
5Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.
6Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.
7Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.
8For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.
9The poles extended so that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.
10Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.
11And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions),
12and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets—
13indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,
14so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Chapter 6
1Then Solomon spoke: “The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud. 2I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place for You to dwell in forever.”
3Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
4And he said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,
5‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel.
6Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
7Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
8But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart.
9Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’
10So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
11And there I have put the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with the children of Israel.”
12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands
13(for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven);
14and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.
15You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
16Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’
17And now, O Lord God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.
18“But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
19Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You:
20that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.
21And may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.
22“If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple,
23then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.
24“Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple,
25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.
26“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them,
27then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
28“When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;
29whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple:
30then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men),
31that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
32“Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple;
33then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.
34“When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name,
35then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36“When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to a land far or near;
37yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’;
38and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name:
39then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
40Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.
