1 Kings 4

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David’s Instructions to Solomon

nWhen David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, oI am about to go the way of all the earth. pBe strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, qthat you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the Lord may restablish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, sIf your sons pay close attention to their way, tto walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, uyou shall not lack1 a man on the throne of Israel.

Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah vdid to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, wAbner the son of Ner, xand Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging2 in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war3 on the belt around his4 waist and on the sandals on his feet. Act therefore yaccording to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. But deal loyally with the sons of zBarzillai the Gileadite, and let them be aamong those who eat at your table, bfor with such loyalty5 they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. And there is also with you cShimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day dwhen I went to Mahanaim. eBut when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, ffor you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall gbring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.

The Death of David

10 hThen David slept with his fathers and was buried in ithe city of David. 11 And the time that David reigned over Israel was jforty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 kSo Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Solomon’s Reign Established

13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, lDo you come peacefully? He said, Peacefully. 14 Then he said, I have something to say to you. She said, Speak. 15 He said, You know that mthe kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, nfor it was his from the Lord. 16 And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me. She said to him, Speak. 17 And he said, Please ask King Solomonhe will not refuse youto give me oAbishag the Shunammite as my wife. 18 Bathsheba said, Very well; I will speak for you to the king.

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king’s mother, pand she sat on his right. 20 Then she said, I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me. And the king said to her, Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you. 21 She said, Let oAbishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife. 22 King Solomon answered his mother, And why do you ask oAbishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, qfor he is my older brother, and on his side rare Abiathar6 the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah. 23 Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, sGod do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! 24 Now therefore tas the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, uas he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today. 25 So King Solomon sent vBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.

26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to wAnathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, xbecause you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, yand because you shared in all my father’s affliction. 27 zSo Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling athe word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28 When the news came to Joabfor Joab bhad supported Adonijah although che had not supported AbsalomJoab fled to the tent of the Lord and caught hold of the dhorns of the altar. 29 And when it was told King Solomon, Joab has fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is beside the altar, Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, strike him down. 30 So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, The king commands, Come out. But he said, No, I will die here. Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. 31 The king replied to him, eDo as he has said, strike him down and bury him, fand thus take away from me and from my father’s house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. 32 The Lord will gbring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men hmore righteous and better than himself, iAbner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and jAmasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33 gSo shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore. 34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35 kThe king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put lZadok the priest min the place of Abiathar.

36 Then the king sent and summoned nShimei and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. 37 For on the day you go out and cross othe brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. pYour blood shall be on your own head. 38 And Shimei said to the king, What you say is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39 But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to qAchish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And when it was told Shimei, Behold, your servants are in Gath, 40 Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41 And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, 42 the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die? And you said to me, What you say is good; I will obey. 43 Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I commanded you? 44 The king also said to Shimei, You know in your own heart rall the harm that you did to David my father. So the Lord will sbring back your harm on your own head. 45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, tand the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever. 46 Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died.

uSo the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

vSolomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into wthe city of David until he had finished xbuilding his own house yand the house of the Lord zand the wall around Jerusalem. aThe people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.

Solomon bloved the Lord, cwalking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, dfor that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. eAt Gibeon fthe Lord appeared to Solomon gin a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give you. And Solomon said, You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because hhe walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and ihave given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, jyou have made your servant king in place of David my father, kalthough I am but a little child. I do not know lhow to go out or come in. mAnd your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, ntoo many to be numbered or counted for multitude. oGive your servant therefore an understanding mind pto govern your people, that I may qdiscern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?

10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 And God said to him, Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, rI now do according to your word. Behold, sI give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 tI give you also what you have not asked, uboth riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, vas your father David walked, then wI will lengthen your days.

15 And Solomon xawoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon’s Wisdom

16 Then two prostitutes came to the king yand stood before him. 17 The one woman said, Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne. 22 But the other woman said, No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours. The first said, No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine. Thus they spoke before the king.

23 Then the king said, The one says, This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead; and the other says, No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other. 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because zher heart yearned for her son, Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death. But the other said, He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that athe wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

Solomon’s Officials

King Solomon was king over all Israel, and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was bthe priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; cJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; dBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; eZadok and Abiathar were priests; Azariah the son of Nathan was over fthe officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and gking’s friend; Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and hAdoniram the son of Abda was in charge of ithe forced labor.

Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. These were their names: Ben-hur, in jthe hill country of Ephraim; Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all kNaphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in lTaanach, Megiddo, and all lBeth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, min Ramoth-gilead (he had nthe villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had othe region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 pShimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, qthe country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.

Solomon’s Wealth and Wisdom

20 Judah and Israel were as many ras the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 1 21 sSolomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the tEuphrates2 to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. uThey brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors3 of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates4 from Tiphsah to vGaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. wAnd he had peace on all sides around him. 25 And Judah and Israel xlived in safety, yfrom Dan even to Beersheba, zevery man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26 aSolomon also had 40,0005 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and bswift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

29 cAnd God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind dlike the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ethe people of the east fand all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was cwiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 gHe also spoke 3,000 proverbs, hand his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from iall the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Preparations for Building the Temple

1 Now jHiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, kfor Hiram always loved David. And Solomon sent word to Hiram, lYou know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God mbecause of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. nBut now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, oas the Lord said to David my father, Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name. Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.

As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes pby providing food for my household. 10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, 11 while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors2 of wheat as food for his household, and 20,0003 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. 12 And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, qas he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

13 King Solomon drafted rforced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. sAdoniram was in charge of the draft. 15 Solomon also thad 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16 besides Solomon’s 3,300 uchief officers who were over the work, vwho had charge of the people who carried on the work. 17 At the king’s command wthey quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and xthe men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

Solomon Builds the Temple

yIn the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, zhe began to build the house of the Lord. aThe house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits1 long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house. And bhe made for the house windows with recessed frames.2 cHe also built a structure3 against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and dthe inner sanctuary. And he made eside chambers all around. The lowest story4 was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

When the house was built, fit was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

The entrance for the lowest5 story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third. gSo he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar. 10 He built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.

11 Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, 12 Concerning this house that you are building, hif you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, iwhich I spoke to David your father. 13 And jI will dwell among the children of Israel kand will not forsake my people Israel.

14 lSo Solomon built the house and finished it. 15 He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, mand he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress. 16 nHe built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as othe Most Holy Place. 17 The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. 18 The cedar within the house was carved in the form of pgourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen. 19 The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 20 The inner sanctuary6 was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid7 an altar of cedar. 21 And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. qAlso the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

23 rIn the inner sanctuary she made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. 24 Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. 27 He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. tAnd the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. 30 The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms.

31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided.8 32 He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

33 So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in the form of a square, 34 and two doors of cypress wood. uThe two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35 On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. 36 vHe built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams.

37 wIn the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.