Day 132 of 364

¹David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God. ²Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, also onyx stones, stones to be set, stones for inlaid work of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. ³In addition, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, since I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house: ⁴even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses; ⁵of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be made by the hands of artisans. Who then offers willingly to consecrate himself today to the LORD?” ⁶Then the princes of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king’s work, offered willingly; ⁷and they gave for the service of God’s house of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, of silver ten thousand talents, of bronze eighteen thousand talents, and of iron one hundred thousand talents. ⁸People with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the LORD’s house, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹Then the people rejoiced, because they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy. ¹⁰Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the assembly; and David said, “You are blessed, LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ¹¹Yours, LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! For all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. ¹²Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all! In your hand is power and might! It is in your hand to make great, and to give strength to all! ¹³Now therefore, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name. ¹⁴But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and we have given you of your own. ¹⁵For we are strangers before you and foreigners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no remaining. ¹⁶LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name comes from your hand, and is all your own. ¹⁷I know also, my God, that you try the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. Now I have seen with joy your people, who are present here, offer willingly to you. ¹⁸LORD, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart for you; ¹⁹and give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision.” ²⁰Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the LORD your God!” All the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves before the LORD and the king. ²¹They sacrificed sacrifices to the LORD and offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the next day after that day, even one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel, ²²and ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great gladness. They made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him before the LORD to be prince, and Zadok to be priest. ²³Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴All the princes, the mighty men, and also all of the sons of King David submitted themselves to Solomon the king. ²⁵The LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and gave to him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. ²⁶Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ²⁷The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ²⁸He died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his place. ²⁹Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer, ³⁰with all his reign and his might, and the events that involved him, Israel, and all the kingdoms of the lands.

^1:1Solomon the son of David was firmly established in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and made him exceedingly great. ^1:2Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. ^1:3Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which the LORD’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness. ^1:4But David had brought God’s ark up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. ^1:5Moreover the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the LORD’s tabernacle; and Solomon and the assembly were seeking counsel there. ^1:6Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the Tent of Meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it. ^1:7That night, God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for what you want me to give you.” ^1:8Solomon said to God, “You have shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have made me king in his place. ^1:9Now, 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. ^1:10Now 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?” ^1:11God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor yet have you asked for long life; but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king, ^1:12therefore wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you, and none after you will have.” ^1:13So Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the Tent of Meeting, to Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel. ^1:14Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. ^1:15The king made silver and gold to be as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars to be as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. ^1:16The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt and from Kue. The king’s merchants purchased them from Kue. ^1:17They imported from Egypt then exported a chariot for six hundred pieces of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty. They also exported them to the Hittite kings and the Syrian kings. ^2:1Now Solomon decided to build a house for the LORD’s name, and a house for his kingdom. ^2:2Solomon counted out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand men who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. ^2:3Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me. ^2:4Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, to burn before him incense of sweet spices, for the continual show bread, and 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. ^2:5“The house which I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. ^2:6But who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him? ^2:7“Now therefore send me a man skillful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave engravings, to be with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. ^2:8“Send me also cedar trees, cypress trees, and algum trees out of Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. Behold, my servants will be with your servants, ^2:9even to prepare timber in abundance for me; for the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful. ^2:10Behold, I will give to your servants, the cutters who cut timber, twenty thousand cors of beaten wheat, twenty thousand baths of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.” ^2:11Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them.” ^2:12Huram continued, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, who would build a house for the LORD and a house for his kingdom. ^2:13Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram-abi, ^2:14the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre. He is skillful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, in timber, in purple, in blue, in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any kind of engraving and to devise any device, that there may be a place appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your father. ^2:15“Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants; ^2:16and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you need. We will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa; then you shall carry it up to Jerusalem.” ^2:17Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the census with which David his father had counted them; and they found one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred. ^2:18He set seventy thousand of them to bear burdens, eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to assign the people their work. ^3:1Then Solomon began to build the LORD’s house at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ^3:2He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. ^3:3Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of God’s house: the length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits. ^3:4The porch that was in front, its length, across the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold. ^3:5He made the larger room with a ceiling of cypress wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains. ^3:6He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold from Parvaim. ^3:7He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls, and its doors with gold, and engraved cherubim on the walls. ^3:8He made the most holy place. Its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. ^3:9The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold. ^3:10In the most holy place he made two cherubim by carving, and they overlaid them with gold. ^3:11The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. ^3:12The wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, joining to the wing of the other cherub. ^3:13The wings of these cherubim spread themselves out twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house. ^3:14He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it with cherubim. ^3:15Also he made before the house two pillars thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. ^3:16He made chains in the inner sanctuary, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. ^3:17He set 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. ^4:1Then he made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. ^4:2Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim. It was round, five cubits high, and thirty cubits in circumference. ^4:3Under it was the likeness of oxen, which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast. ^4:4It 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; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hindquarters were inward. ^4:5It was a handbreadth thick. Its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It received and held three thousand baths. ^4:6He also made ten basins, and put five on the right hand and five on the left, to wash in them. The things that belonged to the burnt offering were washed in them, but the sea was for the priests to wash in. ^4:7He made the ten lamp stands of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left. ^4:8He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. He made one hundred basins of gold. ^4:9Furthermore he made the court of the priests, the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze. ^4:10He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south. ^4:11Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished doing the work that he did for King Solomon in God’s house: ^4:12the two pillars, the bowls, the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, ^4:13and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks—two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars. ^4:14He also made the bases, and he made the basins on the bases— ^4:15one sea, and the twelve oxen under it. ^4:16Huram-abi also made the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all its vessels for King Solomon, for the LORD’s house, of bright bronze. ^4:17The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ^4:18Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance, so that the weight of the bronze could not be determined. ^4:19Solomon made all the vessels that were in God’s house: the golden altar, the tables with the show bread on them, ^4:20and the lamp stands with their lamps to burn according to the ordinance before the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; ^4:21and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold that was purest gold; ^4:22and the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans of pure gold. As for the entry of the house, its inner doors for the most holy place and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.