Study Desk

Now ^(C1)Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and ^(C2)exalted him greatly.

And Solomon spoke to all Israel, ^(C1)to the commanders of thousands, of hundreds, and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers' households.

Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to ^(C1)the high place which was at Gibeon, ^(C2)because God's tent of meeting was there which Moses, the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

However, David had brought up ^(C1)the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim ^(F1)to ^(C2)the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

Now ^(C1)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.

And Solomon went up there before the LORD to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and ^(C1)offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

^(C1)In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Ask what I shall give you."

And Solomon said to God, "You have dealt with my father David with great faithfulness, and ^(C1)have made me king in his place.

"Now, LORD God, ^(C1)Your ^(F1)promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over ^(C2)a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

"^(C1)Now give me wisdom and knowledge, ^(C2)so that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?"

^(C1)Then God said to Solomon, "Because this was ^(F1)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,

wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. ^(C1)I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor, ^(F1)such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed, nor will those who will ^(F2)come after you."

^(C1)So Solomon went ^(F1)from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

^(C1)Solomon amassed chariots and horsemen. ^(C2)He had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in ^(C3)the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

^(C1)The king made ^(C2)silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamores in the ^(F1)lowland.

Solomon's ^(C1)horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king's traders acquired them from Kue for a price.

They ^(F1)imported chariots from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver apiece, horses for 150 apiece, and ^(F2)by the same means they ^(F3)exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

^(F1)(C1)Now Solomon ^(F2)decided to build a house for the name of the LORD, and a ^(F3)royal palace for himself.

^(F1)So ^(C1)Solomon ^(F2)assigned seventy thousand men to carry loads, eighty thousand men to quarry stone in the mountains, and 3,600 to supervise them.

^(C1)Then Solomon sent word to ^(F1)Huram the king of Tyre, saying, "^(C2)As you dealt with my father David and sent him cedars to build him a house to live in, do it for me.

"Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, dedicating it to Him, ^(C1)to burn fragrant incense before Him and to set out ^(C2)the showbread continually, and to offer ^(C3)burnt offerings morning and evening, ^(C4)on Sabbaths, on new moons, and on the appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is to be done in Israel forever.

"The house which I am about to build will be great, for our God is ^(C1)greater than all the gods.

"But ^(C1)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 ^(F1)burn incense before Him?

"Now ^(C1)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 ^(F1)(C2)whom I have in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.

"^(C1)Send me also cedar, juniper, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber of Lebanon; and indeed ^(C2)my servants will work with your servants,

to prepare timber in abundance for me, for the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful.

"Now behold, ^(C1)I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, ^(F1)twenty thousand kors of crushed wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, ^(F2)twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil."

Then Huram, king of Tyre, ^(F1)answered in a letter sent to Solomon: "^(C1)Because the LORD loves His people, He has made you king over them."

Then Huram ^(F1)continued, "Blessed be ^(C1)the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, ^(F2)endowed with discretion and understanding, ^(C2)who will build a house for the LORD and a ^(F3)royal palace for himself.

"Now then, I am sending Huram-abi, a skilled man, ^(F1)endowed with understanding,

^(C1)the son of a ^(F1)Danite woman and ^(F2)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 ^(F3)execute any design which is assigned to him, to work with your skilled workers and with ^(F4)those of my lord, your father David.

"Now then, let my lord send his servants wheat and barley, oil and wine, of ^(C1)which he has spoken.

"^(C1)We 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."

Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, ^(C1)following the ^(F1)census which his father David had ^(F2)taken; and 153,600 were found.

^(C1)He 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.

^(C1)Then 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 ^(C2)on the threshing floor of ^(F1)Ornan the Jebusite.

He began to build on the second day in the second month ^(F1)of the fourth year of his reign.

Now these are the ^(F1)foundations which ^(C1)Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard, was ^(F2)sixty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits.

The porch which was in front of the house ^(C1)was as long as the width of the house, ^(F1)twenty cubits, and the height ^(F2)twenty; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.

He overlaid ^(C1)the ^(F1)main room with juniper wood and overlaid it with fine gold; and he ^(F2)ornamented it with palm trees and chains.

Further, he overlaid the house ^(F1)with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim.

^(C1)He also overlaid the house with gold—the beams, the thresholds, and its walls and doors; and he ^(C2)carved cherubim on the walls.

Then he made ^(C1)the ^(F1)room of the Most Holy Place: its length across the width of the house was ^(F2)twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to ^(F3)six hundred talents.

The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid ^(C1)the upper rooms with gold.

^(C1)Then he made two ^(F1)sculptured cherubim in the room of the Most Holy Place and overlaid them with gold.

The wingspan of the ^(F1)cherubim was twenty ^(F2)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.

The 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 ^(F1)first cherub.

The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet ^(F1)facing the main room.

^(C1)He made the veil of violet, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and he worked cherubim into it.

^(C1)He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits ^(F1)high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits.

He 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.

^(C1)He 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.