Study Desk

After David finished speaking, he gave Solomon the plans for building the main rooms of the temple, including the porch, the storerooms, the rooms upstairs and downstairs, as well as the most holy place.

He gave Solomon his plans for the courtyards and the open areas around the temple, and for the rooms to store the temple treasures and gifts that had been dedicated to God.

David also gave Solomon his plans for dividing the priests and the Levites into groups, as well as for the work that needed to be done at the temple and for taking care of the objects used for worship.

the gold incense altar, and the gold statue of a chariot for the winged creatures which were on the lid of the sacred chest.

But you must see that everything is done according to these plans. Be confident, and never be afraid of anything or get discouraged. The Lord my God will help you do everything needed to finish the temple, so it can be used for worshiping him.

David told the crowd: God chose my son Solomon to build the temple, but Solomon is young and has no experience. This is not just any building—this is the temple for the Lord God!

Besides doing all that, I have promised to give part of my own gold and silver as a way of showing my love for God's temple.

and to make the gold and silver objects. Now, who else will show their dedication to the Lord by giving gifts for building his temple?

for the temple. These gifts included almost two hundred tons of gold, three hundred eighty tons of silver, almost seven hundred tons of bronze, and three thousand seven hundred fifty tons of iron.

We are only foreigners living here on earth for a while, just as our ancestors were. And we will soon be gone, like a shadow that suddenly disappears.

Our Lord God, we have brought all these things for building a temple to honor you. They belong to you, and you gave them to us.

And give Solomon the desire to completely obey your laws and teachings, and the desire to build the temple for which I have provided these gifts.

for forty years. He ruled from Hebron for seven years and from Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

At that time, the sacred tent that Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the desert was still kept at Gibeon, and in front of the tent was the bronze altar that Bezalel had made. One day, Solomon told the people of Israel, the army commanders, the officials, and the family leaders, to go with him to the place of worship at Gibeon, even though his father King David had already moved the sacred chest from Kiriath-Jearim to the tent that he had set up for it in Jerusalem. Solomon and the others went to Gibeon to worship the Lord ,

God appeared to Solomon that night in a dream and said, "Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you."

God replied: Solomon, you could have asked me to make you rich or famous or to let you live a long time. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom and knowledge to rule my people.

Solomon's merchants bought his horses and chariots in the regions of Musri and Kue. They paid about fifteen pounds of silver for a chariot and almost four pounds of silver for a horse. They also sold horses and chariots to the Hittite and Syrian kings.

Solomon decided to build a temple where the Lord would be worshiped, and also to build a palace for himself.

I am building a temple where the Lord my God will be worshiped. Sweet-smelling incense will be burned there, and sacred bread will be offered to him. Worshipers will offer sacrifices to the Lord every morning and evening, every Sabbath, and on the first day of each month, as well as during all our religious festivals. These things will be done for all time, just as the Lord has commanded.

No one can ever build a temple large enough for God—even the heavens are too small a place for him to live in! All I can do is build a place where we can offer sacrifices to him.