1 Kings 1-11

New Catholic Bible

The Reign of Solomon

Chapter 1

Help for King David. ¹ Now King David was old, well on in years. They would cover him up, but he could not get warm. ² So his servants said to him, “My lord, the king, let a young virgin be found for you to attend to you and to care for you. She can lie alongside of you so that my lord, the king, can keep warm.” ³ And so they searched for a beautiful young woman all throughout the territory of Israel, and they found Abishag the Shunamite, and they brought her to the king. ⁴ The young woman was very beautiful, and she cared for the king. She served the king, but he did not have intimate relations with her.

Adonijah’s Plan. ⁵ Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exulted himself saying, “I will be king.” He had his own chariots and horsemen, and he had fifty men to run in front of him.^{[a] 6} His father never rebuked him by saying, “Why have you done this?” He was very handsome, and he had been born after Absalom.

⁷ Adonijah conferred with Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and they helped Adonijah and followed after him. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, and Shimei and Rei, David’s brave warriors, did not side with Adonijah.

^9 [b]Adonijah sacrificed some sheep, oxen, and fatted calves at the stone of Zoheleth in En-rogel. He invited all of his brethren, the king’s sons, and all of the men of Judah, the king’s servants, ¹⁰ but he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the king’s brave men, or Solomon, his brother.

¹¹ Solomon Becomes King. Nathan, therefore, spoke to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, is reigning, and our lord David does not know about it. ¹² Come and let me give you counsel, so that I may save my own life and the life of your son Solomon.

¹³ “Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Did not my lord, the king, make an oath to your handmaid, saying, “Solomon, your son, will reign after me and will sit upon my throne? Why, then, is Adonijah reigning?” ¹⁴ While you are still speaking with the king, I will arrive and confirm your words.’ ”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went into the king’s chamber. Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunamite served the king.^{[c] 16} Bathsheba bowed down, paying obeisance to the king, and the king said, “What do you want?” ¹⁷ She said to him, “My lord, you made an oath to your handmaid by the Lord, your God, saying, ‘Solomon, your son, will reign after me, and he will sit upon my throne.’ ¹⁸ But now Adonijah is reigning, and my king does not know about it. ¹⁹ He has sacrificed many oxen, fatted calves, and sheep, and he has invited all of the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but he did not invite your servant Solomon.

²⁰ “Now, my lord, the king, the eyes of all of Israel are upon you. They want you to tell them who will sit upon your throne, my lord, the king.^{[d] 21} Otherwise when my lord, the king, sleeps with his fathers, I and Solomon, my son, will be condemned.”

²² While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet entered. ²³ They announced to the king, “Nathan the prophet.” He came before the king and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. ²⁴ Nathan said, “Has my lord, the king, said, ‘Adonijah will rule after me and he will sit upon my throne?’ ²⁵ Today he went down and sacrificed many oxen, fatted calves, and sheep, and he invited all of the king’s sons, the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest. They are eating and drinking with him, and they are saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ But he did not invite myself, your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, nor Solomon, your servant. ²⁷ Has my lord, the king, done this thing without informing your servant about who is to sit upon your throne after you, O lord, my king?”

²⁸ Then King David said, “Summon Bathsheba.” She came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. ²⁹ The king then swore an oath, saying, “As the Lord lives who has delivered me from all of my adversities, ³⁰ and as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel saying, ‘Solomon, your son, will reign after me, and he will sit upon my throne in my place,’ I will fulfill it today.” ³¹ Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground and did obeisance saying, “May my lord, King David, live forever.”

³² King David said, “Summon Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, to me.” They came before the king. ³³ The king said to them, “Take your lord’s servants and put Solomon, my son, on my own donkey and bring him to Gihon. ³⁴ There, have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him as king over Israel. Sound your trumpet and proclaim, ‘Long live, King Solomon.’ ³⁵ Then follow him back up so that he might come and sit upon my throne, for he will take my place as king. I have chosen him to be the king over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶ Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king saying, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord, the king, confirm it. ³⁷ May the Lord be with Solomon just as he has been with my lord, the king. May he make his throne greater than the throne of my lord, king David.”

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down. They had Solomon ride upon King David’s donkey, and they brought him to Gihon. ³⁹ Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out from the tabernacle and he anointed Solomon. They sounded the trumpet and all of the people proclaimed, “Long live, King Solomon.” ⁴⁰ All of the people went up and joined his following, and they played upon flutes and so greatly rejoiced that the ground shook from the noise.

⁴¹ Adonijah Acknowledges Solomon. Adonijah and all of those whom he had invited to be with him finished eating and heard it. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, “What is this uproar coming from the city?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for a brave man like you must bring good news.” ⁴³ Jonathan answered Adonijah saying, “It is not so! Our Lord, king David, has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ The king sent him with Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, ⁴⁵ and Zadok, the priest, and Nathan the prophet anointed him in Gihon. They are coming up from there rejoicing so that the city resounds with it. This is the noise that you heard. ⁴⁶ Moreover, Solomon is sitting upon the royal throne.

⁴⁷ “The king’s servants have come to bless our lord, King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon greater than your name, and his throne than your throne.’ The king then worshiped in his bed ⁴⁸ and the king said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has allowed me to see with my own eyes the one who will sit upon my throne.’ ”

⁴⁹ All of those whom Adonijah had invited became frightened, and they rose up and they each went his own way. ⁵⁰ But Adonijah, because he feared Solomon, got up and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.^[e]

⁵¹ Solomon was told, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for he has taken hold of the horns of the altar saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear an oath to me today that he will not harm his servant.’ ” ⁵² Solomon replied, “If he shows himself to be a man of virtue, then not one of his hairs will fall to the ground. But if he proves to be wicked, he will die!”

⁵³ So King Solomon sent and had him brought down from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go home.”

Chapter 2

David’s Parting Words before Death. ¹ As David’s death drew near, he instructed Solomon, his son, saying, ² “I am going the way of all upon the earth. Be strong, and show yourself to be a man. ^3 [f]Observe the ordinances of the Lord, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and what he witnessed in writing in the law of Moses. In this way you will prosper in whatever you do and wherever you go. ⁴ The Lord will keep the promise he made about me saying, ‘If your descendants heed their way and they walk before me faithfully with all of their heart and all of their soul, there will always be one of yours upon the throne of Israel.’

^5 [g]“Now, you know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the army of Israel, to Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood during peacetime as if it were a time of war. The blood of battle is upon the belt around his waist and the sandals upon his feet. ⁶ Deal with him as you think wise, but do not let his gray head go down into Sheol in peace. ⁷ Show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite. Let them be among those who eat at your table, for they came to me when I fled from Absalom, your brother.

⁸ “Now, you also have Shimei, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim. He cursed me terribly on the day I traveled to Mahanaim, yet he also came down to meet me at the Jordan. I swore an oath to him by the Lord saying, ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’ ⁹ You should not let him go unpunished. You are a wise man; you will know what to do with him. Bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood.”

¹⁰ David slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the City of David. ¹¹ David had reigned over Israel for forty years. He reigned in Hebron for seven years, and he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

¹² Solomon Affirms His Power. Then Solomon sat on the throne of David, his father, and his reign was firmly established.

¹³ Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. She asked him, “Do you come in peace?” He answered, “In peace.” ¹⁴ Then he added, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.” ¹⁵ He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine. All of Israel looked to me to reign. But things changed, and the kingdom is my brother’s, for it is his from the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I beg one thing from you; do not deny me.” She said, “Speak.” ¹⁷ He said, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not refuse you, and ask him to give me Abishag as a wife.” ¹⁸ Bathsheba answered, “Very well, I will speak to the king for you.”

¹⁹ Bathsheba, therefore, went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her. He sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king’s mother, so that she sat on his right hand.^{[h] 20} She said, “I desire to make one small request of you. Please do not deny me.” The king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not deny you.” ²¹ She said, “Let Abishag the Shunamite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.”

²² King Solomon answered his mother saying, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunamite for Adonijah? Why not ask for the kingdom for him, for he is my older brother? Ask it for him and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab, the son of Zeruiah.” ²³ Then King Solomon swore an oath by the Lord saying, “May God do this to me and more if Adonijah has not spoken this thing at the cost of his life. ²⁴ Now, therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and has set me upon the throne of David, my father, and who has built a house for me as he promised, this very day Adonijah will be put to death.” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he fell upon him, so that he died.

²⁶ The king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you really deserve to die now. I will not put you to death, however, because you have carried the Ark of the Lord, the God, before David, my father, and because you suffered whatever my father suffered.” ²⁷ So Solomon removed Abiathar as priest of the Lord, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸ The news came to Joab (for Joab had followed Adonijah although he had not followed Absalom), and Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and took hold of the horns on the altar. ²⁹ King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and he is by the altar.” So Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall upon him.”

³⁰ Benaiah arrived at the tabernacle of the Lord and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out.’ ” He answered, “No, I will die here!” Benaiah brought a report back to the king saying, “This is what Joab said; this is how he answered me.” ³¹ So the king said to him, “Do what he said, fall upon him and bury him, so that you may remove the innocent blood that Joab shed from me and the house of my father.^{[i] 32} Thus the Lord will bring the blood back upon his own head. He struck down two men who were more righteous and better than he: Abner, the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah. He slew them with the sword, even though my father did not know about it. ³³ Their blood shall come back upon the head of Joab and upon the heads of his descendants forever. But there will be peace forever from the Lord upon David, upon his house, and upon his throne.”

³⁴ So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up and fell upon him and slew him and buried him in his house in the desert. ³⁵ The king assigned Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, as his replacement to command the army, and the king replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest.^[j]

³⁶ The king then sent for and summoned Shimei and he said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem, but do not leave it to go anywhere. ³⁷ On the same day that you cross over the Kidron Brook, know that you will surely die, and your blood will be upon your own head.” ³⁸ Shimei said to the king, “What you have said is good. Your servant will do what my lord, the king, has said.” Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem for a long time.

³⁹ Three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish, the son of Maacah, the king of Gath. Shimei was informed, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.” ⁴⁰ Shimei rose up, and saddled his donkey, and went to Achish in Gath to search for his slaves. Shimei went and brought his slaves back from Gath. ⁴¹ Solomon was told that Shimei had traveled from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back again. ⁴² The king sent for and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make an oath by the Lord and warn you, saying, ‘The day that you go forth and travel anywhere, know that you will surely die?’ You answered me, ‘The word that I have heard is good.’ ⁴³ Why have you not observed the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?”

⁴⁴ The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own heart about all of the evil that you did to my father; therefore, the Lord will requite your wickedness upon your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be secure before the Lord forever.” ⁴⁶ So the king gave a command to Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the reign was firmly established in the hands of Solomon.^[k]

Chapter 3

Solomon Asks for Wisdom. ¹ Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and he married Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her into the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord and the walls surrounding Jerusalem.

^2 [l]In the meantime, the people sacrificed upon the high places,^[m] for a temple to the name of the Lord had not yet been built. ³ Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, except that he sacrificed and burned incense upon the high places.

⁴ The king went to Gibeon to perform a sacrifice there, for that was an important high place. Solomon offered up one thousand burnt offerings upon that altar.

⁵ The Lord appeared to Solomon that night in a dream at Gibeon. God said, “Ask me for whatever you want.” ⁶ Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, David, my father, because he walked before you in fidelity and righteousness. His heart was upright before you. You have even continued to show him this great kindness by having given him a son to sit upon his throne up to this very day. ⁷ Now, O Lord, my God, you have established your servant as king in the place of David, my father, but I am only a small child and do not know how to go out and come in. ⁸ Your servant is among the people you have chosen, a great people. There are so many of them that they cannot be numbered or counted. ⁹ Therefore, give your servant a discerning heart to judge your people and to distinguish between what is good and what is bad, for who would be able to judge this, your great people?”

¹⁰ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ God said to him, “Because you have asked for this thing, and you have not asked for a long life for yourself, or that you be rich, or for the life of your enemies, but you asked for understanding to discern what is just, ¹² behold, I am fulfilling your request. I will give you such a wise and understanding heart that there was never anyone like you before your times, nor will anyone like you rise up afterwards.^[n]

¹³ “I will also give you those things for which you did not ask, both riches and honor, so that no other king will be like you as long as you live. ¹⁴ If you walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and commandments, just as David, your father, walked, then I will prolong your life.”

¹⁵ Solomon woke up, and it had been a dream. He went to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. He offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he celebrated a feast with all his servants.

¹⁶ Solomon’s Wisdom. Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One of the women said, “O my lord, I and this woman live in the same house. I had a child while this woman was in the house.

¹⁸ “Three days after I had my child, this woman also had a child. We were there together, and there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us. ¹⁹ This woman’s child died during the night because she rolled over upon it. ²⁰ She got up in the middle of the night, and she took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast, and she put her dead son by my breast. ²¹ When I got up the next morning to nurse my son, he was dead. I examined him carefully in the morning, and behold, it was not the son whom I had borne.”

²² The other woman said, “No! My son is the living one; your son is the dead one!” The first woman said, “No! Your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one!” They argued this way before the king.

²³ The king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, the living one, and that is your son, the dead one,’ while the other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead, my son is alive.’ ” ²⁴ The king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword to the king. ²⁵ The king said, “Divide the living child in two. Give one-half to one of them, and one-half to the other.”

²⁶ The woman whose child was alive was moved to compassion for her son and she said to the king, “O my lord, give her the living child. Do not kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you will have him. Cut him in two!”

²⁷ The king then said, “Give her the living child. Do not kill him. She is his mother.” ²⁸ When all of Israel heard about how the king had judged the case, they were filled with awe toward the king. They realized that he had the wisdom of God by the way he was able to judge properly.

Chapter 4

Solomon’s Wealth and Household. ¹ King Solomon reigned over all of Israel. ² These were his officials: Azariah, the son of Zadok, was the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were the scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, kept the records; ⁴ Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was the commander of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; ⁵ Azariah, the son of Nathan, was the director of the local officials; Zabud, the son of Nathan, was the king’s own priest and advisor; ⁶ Ahishar was the major-domo of the palace; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, was in charge of forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve local officials in charge of all of Israel.^[o] They provided food for the king and his household. Each of them was assigned to provide provisions for one month each year. ⁸ These are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (Socoh and all the lands of Hepher belonged to it); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab, (who was married to Taphath, the daughter of Solomon) in Naphath-dor; ¹² Baana, the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean, which lie alongside of Zarethan below Jezreel, running from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on across to Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, in Gilead were his as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty large cities fortified with bronze gate bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz, (who married Basemath, the daughter of Solomon) in Naphtali; ¹⁶ Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ and Geber, the son of Uri, in Gilead (the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and of Og, the king of Bashan). He was the only district official in that territory.

²⁰ The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the shore of the sea. They ate, and they drank, and they were happy. ²¹ Solomon ruled over all of the kingdoms in the land that extended from the river over to the land of the Philistines and down to the border with Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon for his entire lifetime.

²² Each day’s provision for Solomon included thirty cors^[p] of fine flour, sixty cors of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and one hundred sheep, in addition to deer, gazelles, roebuck, and fatted fowl.

²⁴ He ruled over all of this side of the river, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all of the kings on this side of the river. He had peace on every side.

²⁵ Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan to Beer-sheba, every man under his own vine and under his own fig tree, during the entire time of Solomon. ²⁶ Solomon also had forty thousand stalls for his chariot horses, and twelve thousand horsemen.

²⁷ Those officials provided food for King Solomon and for all of those who came to King Solomon’s table. Each one was assigned his month, and they saw to it that nothing was missing. ²⁸ Each of them also brought his quota of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses to the assigned place.

²⁹ The Wisdom of Solomon. God granted Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, a largeness of heart that was as abundant as the sand on the shore of the sea. ³⁰ The wisdom of Solomon was even greater than that of the wisdom of all of the men of the East and of the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ He was wiser than any other person, including Ethan the Ezrahite and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. His fame spread to all of the surrounding nations. ³² He proclaimed three thousand proverbs,^[q] and he produced one thousand and five songs. ³³ He was able to discourse upon trees, from the cedars of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. ³⁴ Everyone came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, sent by kings from all over the world who had heard about his wisdom.

Chapter 5

Temple Plans. ¹ Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon for he had heard that he had been anointed as king in his father’s place, for Hiram had always been a friend of David.^{[r] 2} Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that David, my father, could not build a temple for the name of the Lord, his God, because he had to fight battles on every side until the Lord placed them under his feet. ⁴ Now the Lord, my God, has given me rest on every side, so that there are neither adversaries nor disasters. ⁵ I therefore intend to build a temple for the name of the Lord, my God, as the Lord foretold to David, my father, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will establish to take your place upon your throne will be the one who will build a temple for my name.’ ⁶ Give orders to cut cedars of Lebanon for me. My servants will work alongside your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wage you set. You know that we have no one among us who is as skilled as the Sidonians in cutting down trees.”

⁷ When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he rejoiced greatly. He said, “Blessed be the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.” ⁸ Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have received the message you sent me, and I will do everything that you wish concerning the cedar trees and fir trees. ⁹ My servants will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float them across the water by rafts, bringing them to the place that you establish for me. They will be broken apart for you there, and you can take them away. You, in turn, can fulfill my desire by providing food for my household.”

¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar trees and fir trees that he desired, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household and twenty cors of pure oil. This is what Solomon gave to Hiram every year. ¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a covenant with each other.

^13 [s]Then King Solomon raised up a labor force from all of Israel, and the labor force numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent ten thousand of them each month to Lebanon in shifts. They were in Lebanon for one month, and then they were home for two months. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

¹⁵ Solomon also had sixty thousand who served as porters, and eighty thousand who carved stone in the hill country. ¹⁶ In addition, Solomon had three thousand and three hundred supervisors in charge of the work. They directed the people who did the work. ¹⁷ The king gave orders, and they prepared huge, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with hewn stones. ¹⁸ Thus Solomon’s workmen, and Hiram’s workmen, and the men of Gebal prepared the timber and the stone for the construction of the temple.

Chapter 6

Solomon Builds the Temple.^{[t] 1} And so he began to build the temple of the Lord in the four hundred and eighteenth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in Ziv, the second month.^[u]

² The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. ³ The portico in front of the main part of the temple was as wide as the temple, that is, twenty cubits wide. It extended ten cubits in front of the temple. ⁴ He made windows with recessed frames for the temple. ⁵ He built chambers all around the outside walls of the main part and the inner sanctuary of the temple in which there were side rooms. ⁶ The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle chamber was six cubits wide, and the third level was seven cubits wide. He made narrow ledges all around the temple so that nothing had to be fastened to the walls of the temple.

⁷ Stone that had been made ready was used in the building of the temple so that one did not hear the sound of hammers or chisels or any other iron tool while the temple was being built.^[v]

⁸ The entrance for the lowest level was on the right side of the temple. One went up by stairs from there to the middle level, and from the middle to the third level. ⁹ Thus he built the temple and completed it by roofing it with beams and cedar planks.

¹⁰ He built side rooms all along the temple. They were five cubits high, and they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

¹¹ The word of the Lord then came to Solomon, ¹² “As for this temple that you are building, if you walk in my statutes and carry out my ordinances and observe my commandments, walking in them, then I will fulfill the promise I made to David, your father, through you. ¹³ I will dwell among the Israelites and I will not abandon my people Israel.”

¹⁴ Thus Solomon built the temple and completed it. ¹⁵ He lined the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards, covering the temple from the floor to its ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with fir planks.

¹⁶ He separated off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar planks that ran from the floor to the ceiling, making an inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷ The part in front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ The inside of the temple was covered with cedar carved with buds and open flowers. Everything was covered in cedar, and no stone could be seen.

¹⁹ He set up the inner sanctuary in the temple as a place to set the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. ²⁰ The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. It was covered in pure gold, as was also the cedar altar.

²¹ Solomon covered the inside of the temple in pure gold. He stretched gold chains in front of the inner sanctuary, and he covered it in pure gold. ²² He covered the entire temple with gold until he had completed the whole temple. He also covered the altar that was in the inner sanctuary with gold.

²³ He made two cherubim for the inner sanctuary out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ The first wing of the cherub was five cubits and the other wing was also five cubits, making ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. ²⁵ The other cherub was also ten cubits, for the two cherubim were the same size and shape. ²⁶ Each of the cherubim was ten cubits high. ²⁷ He set the cherubim in the innermost room of the temple. The wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of one touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the middle of the room. ²⁸ He covered the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ He carved images of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on all of the walls around the temple, both in the inner and the outer rooms. ³⁰ The floor of the temple was covered with gold, both in the inner and outer rooms.

³¹ He made doors of olive wood for the entrance to the sanctuary. It had a five-sided frame. ³² There were two olive wood doors, and upon them he carved images of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He covered the cherubim and the palm trees with beaten gold.

³³ In the same way he made four-sided frames out of olive wood for the entrance to the temple itself. ³⁴ He also made two doors out of fir wood. Each of the doors had two folding panels. ³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers upon them, and he carefully covered the carvings upon them with gold. ³⁶ He built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and then a row of cedar beams.

³⁷ In the fourth year, the month of Ziv, the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid. ³⁸ In the eleventh year, the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the temple was completely finished according to its plans. He needed seven years to build it.

Chapter 7

Solomon’s Palace.^{[w] 1} Now Solomon took thirteen years to completely finish building his own palace. ² He built the palace out of Lebanon wood. It was one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. It was built upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams stretching out upon the pillars. ³ It was roofed with cedar that lay over the beams that rested on the pillars. There were forty-five beams, fifteen in a row. ⁴ Its windows were set high in the wall in sets of three, each set facing the other. ⁵ All of the doorways and windows had rectangular frames, with the windows facing each other in sets of three.

⁶ He made a hall of pillars. It was fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. There was a porch in front of it with other pillars and covered over by a canopy.

⁷ There was a throne room, the hall of justice, where he would sit in judgment. He covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. ⁸ The palace in which he lived had another court inside the hall which had the same design. Solomon also built another palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he wed.

⁹ All of these, from the outside to the great courtyard, and from the foundations to the eaves, were built with costly stone that had been trimmed with saws on the inside and outside edges. ¹⁰ The foundations were laid with costly stones that were quite large, some being ten cubits and some eight cubits. ¹¹ Above these were costly stone, cut to measure, and cedar beams.

¹² The great courtyard was surrounded by three layers of cut stone and one layer of cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the Lord and its porch.

^13 [x]King Solomon brought back Hiram from Tyre. ¹⁴ His mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a craftsman from Tyre who worked in bronze. He was wise and knowledgeable and a skilled craftsman with all varieties of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all of his work.

¹⁵ He cast two bronze pillars, each of them measured eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.^{[y] 16} He also cast two bronze capitals to be set on the top of the pillars. Each of the capitals was five cubits high. ¹⁷ A network of chains decorated the capitals on top of the pillars, seven on each of the capitals. ¹⁸ He made two rows of pomegranates which covered the network upon the capitals on top of the pillars. He did this on each of the capitals. ¹⁹ The capitals on top of the pillars that were in the porch were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high. ²⁰ Upon each of the capitals of the two pillars, on the outwardly curved surface between the network, there were two rows of pomegranates, two hundred in all. ²¹ He erected the pillars in the porch of the temple. He erected the pillar on the right and called it Jachin, and he erected the pillar on the left and called it Boaz. ²² On the top of the pillars there was lily work. Thus, the work on the pillars was completed.

²³ Then he made a molten sea, ten cubits from one edge to the other. It was five cubits high, and thirty cubits in circumference. ²⁴ Under the brim of its circumference there were gourds, ten to a cubit. There were two rows of gourds all around the sea, the gourds having been cast when the rest of it was cast. ²⁵ It stood upon twelve oxen, three facing to the north, three facing to the west, three facing to the south, and three facing to the east. The sea rested upon them, and their hindquarters were on the inside. ²⁶ It was a handsbreath thick, and its brim was like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

²⁷ He also made ten bronze carts. Each cart was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. ²⁸ This is how the carts were made. They had panels, and the panels were set in frames. ²⁹ There were lions, oxen, and cherubim on the panels between the frames. On the top of the frames was a stand. Below the lions and the oxen there were embossed wreaths.

³⁰ Each cart had four bronze wheels and bronze axles. There were supports for a basin at the four corners. The supports were cast with wreaths on either side. ³¹ The opening at the top of the cart was one cubit, and the opening was round, shaped like a pedestal, and it was one and a half cubits deep. There were carvings around the opening. The panels of the cart were square and not round.

³² The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles for the wheels were attached to the cart. Each wheel was one and a half cubits high. ³³ The wheels were made like chariot wheels, with axles, rims, spokes, and hubs, all of which were made from cast metal.

³⁴ Each cart had four handles, one on each corner, the handles being one piece with the cart. ³⁵ There was a circular band a half a cubit high at the top of the cart. The supports and the panels were attached to the top of the cart. ³⁶ He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surface of the supports and the panels wherever he could, with wreaths all around them.

³⁷ This is how he made the ten carts. They were all cast from one mold, so they were the same size and shape. ³⁸ He then made ten bronze basins. Each basin held forty baths and was four cubits across. There was one basin for each of the ten carts.

³⁹ He placed five of the stands at the right side of the temple, and five of the stands on the left side of the temple. He placed the sea on the right side of the temple, toward the southeast.

⁴⁰ Hiram also made basins, and shovels, and bowls. Thus Hiram completed all of the work that he was doing for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the top of the two pillars, the two networks that covered the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the two pillars, ⁴² the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each of the networks that covered the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars,^{[z] 43} the ten carts, and the ten basins upon the carts, ⁴⁴ one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea, ⁴⁵ the pots, the shovels, and the basins.

All of the utensils that Hiram made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were made from bright bronze. ⁴⁶ The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground that lie between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon did not weigh any of these utensils because there were too many of them; the weight of the bronze used in them was not determined.

⁴⁸ Solomon also made all of the furnishings that were in the temple of the Lord: the golden altar; the golden table upon which they laid the shewbread; ⁴⁹ the lampstands made of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left side; the flower work, the lamps, and the tongs, all made of gold; ⁵⁰ the bowls, the snuffers, the sprinkling bowls, the spoons, and the censors, all made from pure gold; and the golden hinges for the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the main part of the temple.

⁵¹ When King Solomon had completed all of the work on the temple of the Lord, Solomon brought in the things that David, his father, had dedicated: the silver, the gold, and the furnishings. He placed them in the treasury of the temple of the Lord.

Chapter 8

Solomon Dedicates the Temple. ¹ Solomon then assembled all of the elders of Israel, all of the heads of the tribes and the leaders of the ancestral clans of the Israelites. They came to King Solomon in Jerusalem in order to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of the City of David, that is, Zion.

² All of the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival during the month of Ethanim,^[aa] the seventh month. ³ When all of the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took the Ark ⁴ and they brought the Ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all of the sacred furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests, and the Levites, ⁵ and King Solomon, and the entire assembly of Israel gathered with him in front of the Ark. They sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not even be counted or numbered.

⁶ The priests then brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ The wings of the cherubim were spread out covering the place where the Ark was. The cherubim covered the Ark and its poles. ⁸ The poles stretched out so that one could see the ends of the poles in the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but one could not see them outside. They are still there up to the present. ⁹ There was nothing in the Ark except for the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the temple of the Lord. ¹¹ The priests could not stand there to minister on account of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord.

¹² Then Solomon said, “The Lord said that he would live in thick darkness, ¹³ but now I have built you a temple to dwell in, a place where you can abide forever.”

¹⁴ The king then turned around to face the entire assembly of Israel, and he blessed the entire assembly of Israel who stood before him. ¹⁵ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled what he promised to my father, David, for he said, ¹⁶ ‘From the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I had not chosen a city from all of the tribes of Israel in which a temple for my name could be built, but I chose David to be the leader of my people Israel.’

¹⁷ “My father David desired to build a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, ¹⁸ but the Lord said to my father David, ‘You desired to build a temple for my name, and this desire of yours was good, ¹⁹ but you are not the one who will build the temple. Your son who comes forth from your body will build the temple for my name.’ ²⁰ The Lord has kept the promise that he made. I have been raised up in my father’s stead to reign upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ I have provided a place for the Ark in which one finds the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

²² Solomon’s Prayer.^[ab] Solomon then stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel, and he extended his hands to the heavens. ²³ He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth below, who keeps a covenant of mercy with your servants who walk before you with all their heart. ²⁴ You have kept your promise to your servant, David, my father. You spoke it with your own mouth, and with your own hand, you have fulfilled it today.

²⁵ “And so now, O Lord, God of Israel, take heed of what you said to your servant, David, my father, when you said, ‘You will not fail to have one who will sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your children walk before me as you have walked before me.’ ²⁶ Now, O God of Israel, let what you have said to your servant David, my father, come true. ²⁷ But will God truly dwell upon the earth? Behold, the heavens and the highest heavens could not contain you, how much less this temple that I have built?

²⁸ “Give heed to the prayer of your servant and his supplication, O Lord, my God. Listen to the cry and the prayer that your servant makes before you today. ²⁹ May your eyes be wide open upon this temple night and day, the place of which you said, ‘My name will be there.’ Heed the prayer that your servant makes for this place. ³⁰ Hear the supplication of your servant and your people Israel when they pray for this place. Hear from your dwelling place in heaven, and when you hear, forgive.

³¹ “When a man wrongs his neighbor and he is required to swear an oath, and he comes to make the oath before your altar in this temple, ³² then listen from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the evil one and bring down upon his head his deeds. Prove innocent the righteous one, giving him what his righteousness deserves.

³³ “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and they return to you and confess your name, and they pray and make supplication to you in this temple, ³⁴ then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land that you gave to their fathers.

³⁵ “When the heavens have been closed up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in this place and they confess your name, and they turn from their sin because you have punished them, ³⁶ then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, so that you might teach them the right path in which they should walk, and send rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

³⁷ “When there is famine in the land, or pestilence, blight, mildew, locusts, or grasshoppers, or if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or sickness might occur, ³⁸ and whatever prayer or supplication is made by anyone, or by all of your people Israel, because each person knows the plague of his own heart, and he lifts up his hands toward this temple, ³⁹ then listen from your heavenly dwelling place. Forgive, and act, and give each person what his ways deserve, for you know his heart, for you alone know all human hearts, ⁴⁰ so that they might fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave our fathers.

⁴¹ “And as to the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel, but comes from a distant land for your name’s sake, ⁴² for they have heard about your great name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm, and he comes to this temple to pray, ⁴³ listen from your heavenly dwelling place, and do everything for which the foreigner calls out to you. Then all of the people upon the earth will know your name and fear you just as your people Israel does, and that they might know that the temple that I have built is called by your name.

⁴⁴ “When your people go out to battle against their enemy wherever you send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city that you have chosen and toward the temple that I have built for your name, ⁴⁵ then listen to their prayer and supplication from heaven and maintain their cause.

⁴⁶ “If they sin against you, for there is no one who is sinless, and you are angry with them so that they are delivered over to the enemy and carried off as captives into the land of their enemy, whether it be far or near, ⁴⁷ and they have a change of heart in the land where they have been carried off into captivity, and they repent and they make supplication to you in the land where they have been carried off as captives, and they say, ‘We have sinned, we have done what is wrong, and we have acted wickedly,’ ⁴⁸ and if they turn back to you with all their heart and all their soul in the land to which their enemies took them as captives, and they pray to you in the direction of the land that you gave their fathers, and the city that you have chosen, and the temple that I have built, ⁴⁹ then listen to their prayer and their supplication from your heavenly dwelling place and maintain their cause. ⁵⁰ Forgive your people who have sinned against you, all of the offenses that they have committed against you, and cause those who carried them off into captivity to be filled with compassion.

⁵¹ “They are your people and your inheritance whom you brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of an iron-smelting furnace. ⁵² May your eyes be open to see the supplication of your servant and the supplication of your people Israel. Listen to them whenever they call out to you, ⁵³ for you separated your inheritance from all the other people upon the earth, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you O Lord, my Lord, brought our fathers out of Egypt.”

⁵⁴ When Solomon had finished saying all of these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose up from before the altar of the Lord where he had been kneeling with his hands lifted up to the heavens. ⁵⁵ He stood, and he blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying, ⁵⁶ “Praise be to the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. He has not failed to fulfill a single word of all the good promises that he made through Moses his servant.

⁵⁷ “May the Lord, our God, be with us, just as he was with our fathers; may he not leave us or abandon us. ⁵⁸ May he turn our hearts to him to walk in all of his ways and to observe all of his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances which he commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹ “May these words that I have prayed before the Lord draw near to the Lord, our God, both day and night. May he uphold the cause of his servants and the cause of his people Israel, responding to each day’s needs, ⁶⁰ so that all the people upon the earth might know that the Lord is God, there is no other.

⁶¹ “Let your heart, therefore, be at peace with the Lord, our God, by walking in his statutes and observing his commandments, as is true today.”

⁶² Then the king and all of Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered up a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord of twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty-two thousand sheep. This is how the king and all of the people of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord.

⁶⁴ That day the king consecrated the court in front of the temple for burnt offerings, grain offerings, and for the fat of peace offerings because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small for burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of peace offerings.

⁶⁵ At that time Solomon celebrated before the Lord, our God, with all of Israel, a great assembly, people who came from the entrance of Hamath down to the Wadi of Egypt. It lasted seven days, and then another seven days, fourteen days in all.^{[ac] 66} The next day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and they went home, filled with joy and glad of heart for all of the good things that the Lord had done for David, his servant, and Israel, his people.

Chapter 9

The Lord’s Promise to Solomon.¹ When Solomon had completed the construction of the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, Solomon had accomplished all that he desired to do.

² The Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you made before me, and I have consecrated the temple that you built by establishing my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. ⁴ And as for you, if you walk before me as David, your father, walked, in integrity of heart and righteousness, and you do all that I command you, and you observe my statutes and my ordinances, ⁵ then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever just as I promised David, your father, when I said, ‘You will not fail to have one who will reign upon the throne of Israel.’

⁶ “But if your children turn away from me, and they do not follow me nor do they observe my commandments or my statutes that I have set before you, and they go off to serve other gods, and they worship them, ⁷ then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them, and I will reject from my sight this temple that I have consecrated for my name. Israel will become a byword and a laughingstock among all the nations. ⁸ Although this temple is now exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss at it, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this temple?’ ⁹ Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, their God, who brought their fathers forth from the land of Egypt. They have embraced other gods, and they have worshiped them and served them. This is why the Lord has brought all of these disasters upon them.’ ”

¹⁰ Taking Account. At the end of twenty years during which Solomon built two buildings, the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, ¹¹ King Solomon gave twenty towns that were in the land of Galilee to King Hiram, the king of Tyre, who had provided Solomon with all the cedar wood, fir, and gold that he desired. ¹² When King Hiram traveled out from Tyre to inspect the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ¹³ He said, “What kind of cities have you given me, my brother?” He has called the land Cabul up to the present day. ¹⁴ Now Hiram had sent the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.^[ad]

¹⁵ This is an account of the forced labor that King Solomon raised in order to build the temple of the Lord, his own palace, Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. ¹⁶ (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer. He burned it down and killed the Canaanites who were living there. He gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ Solomon then rebuilt Gezer.) He also built lower Beth-horon, ¹⁸ Baalath, and Tadmor in the desert, all of which were within his land. ¹⁹ Solomon also had storage cities for provisions, cities for his chariots, and cities for his horses. Solomon built whatever he desired in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and all the land that he ruled.

²⁰ All of the people who survived from among the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites (for these people were not Israelites), ²¹ that is, their descendants who remained in the land (for the Israelites had not been able to wipe them out) were conscripted by Solomon to serve as slave labor, as is still true today.

²² Solomon did not reduce the Israelites to slavery. They were his fighting men, his officials, his princes, his captains, the commanders of his chariots, and his charioteers. ²³ They were also the chief officials who were in charge of Solomon’s work projects. There were five hundred and fifty of them, and they supervised the men who did the work. ²⁴ After Pharaoh’s daughter came up to the City of David, to the palace that he had built for her, he then built Millo.

²⁵ Three times a year^[ae] Solomon offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar that he had built for the Lord. He also burnt incense on the altar before the Lord, and so he fulfilled his temple duties. ²⁶ King Solomon built ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Elath on the Red Sea in the land of Edom. ²⁷ Hiram sent some of his men who were sailors, seafaring men who knew the sea, to sail with Solomon’s men. ²⁸ They sailed to Ophir^[af] and brought back and delivered to King Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold.

Chapter 10

The Queen of Sheba’s Visit.^{[ag] 1} When the Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation, she came to test him with difficult questions.^{[ah] 2} She came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan, with camels carrying spices and large quantities of gold and precious stones. When she arrived upon her visit to Solomon, she told him everything that was on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all of her questions. There were no hidden things that Solomon could not tell her.

⁴ When the Queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace that he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the assembly of his servants, the attendance of his ministers in their robes and their cupbearers, and the way that he went up into the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed. ⁶ She said to the king, “The report that I heard in my own land concerning your actions and your wisdom are true. ⁷ However, I could not believe the report until I had come and seen it with my own eyes. They did not tell me the half of it. Your wisdom and your wealth exceed the report that I heard. ⁸ Happy are your men and happy are these, your servants, who always stand before you and hear your wisdom. ⁹ Blessed be the Lord, your God, who delights in you, placing you upon the throne of Israel. The Lord of Israel has established you as king to exercise justice and righteousness because he has loved you forever.”

¹⁰ She then gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious stones. A more abundant quantity of spices never arrived than that which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ Furthermore, the ships of Hiram that had brought the gold from Ophir also brought large quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. ¹² The king made steps of almug wood for the temple of the Lord and for the king’s palace as well as harps and stringed instruments for accompanying singers. Almug wood such as this has not arrived or been seen up to the present day.

¹³ King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba whatever she desired. He gave her whatever she asked for in addition to what King Solomon had already given her. She then returned, going to her own country along with her servants.

¹⁴ Solomon’s Wealth.^[ai]The weight of the gold that Solomon would receive in a year was six hundred, sixty-six talents ¹⁵ in addition to what he received from merchants and the profits from trade, as well as from the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred shields from beaten gold. Each of the shields contained six hundred shekels of gold. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred shields from beaten gold. Three minas of gold went into each shield. The king placed them in the palace built with the wood of Lebanon. ¹⁸ The king also made an ivory throne and had it overlaid with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and the back of the throne had a rounded top. On either side of the seat there were armrests, and there was a lion standing alongside each of the armrests. ²⁰ There were twelve lions standing upon the six steps, with one on each side of the step. Nothing like this had ever been made in any other kingdom.

²¹ All of King Solomon’s goblets were made of gold, and all of the other utensils in the palace made from Lebanon wood were also made from the finest gold. Nothing was made from silver, for it was not considered to be worth anything in Solomon’s time.

²² The king also had ships of Tarshish at sea along with Hiram’s ships. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons with them. ²³ King Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than all of the other kings on the earth.

²⁴ Solomon’s Acclaim. Everyone on the earth sought to visit Solomon to listen to his wisdom which God had placed in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone brought him presents of things made from silver, things made from gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and donkeys.

²⁶ Solomon’s Chariots and Horses. Solomon collected chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand, four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He stationed them in cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

²⁷ The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem. Cedar became as common as the sycamore that abounds in the Shephelah.^{[aj] 28} Solomon brought horses from Egypt and Cilicia. The king’s merchants bought them in Cilicia. ²⁹ They imported chariots from Egypt that cost six hundred silver shekels and horses that cost one hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all of the Hittite and Aramean kings.

Chapter 11

Solomon’s Wives and Idolatry.^{[ak] 1} But King Solomon loved many foreign wives. In addition to Pharaoh’s daughter, there were Moabite women, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. ² These were from the nations about which the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You are not to go to them, nor are they to come to you, for they will surely turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and his wives perverted his heart.

⁴ When Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart to serve other gods. His heart did not rest in peace with the Lord, his God, as the heart of David, his father, had. ⁵ He followed Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch, the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not follow after the Lord completely as his father David had. ⁷ Solomon built a high place to Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and to Moloch, the abomination of the Ammonites, on a hillside that lies to the east of Jerusalem. ⁸ He did the same thing for all of his foreign wives. He burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

^9 [al]The Lord therefore became angry with Solomon for he had turned his heart away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and who had given him a command concerning this very thing, that he not follow after other gods, but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ Therefore, the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and you have not observed my covenant and my statutes that I had given to you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

¹² “Nevertheless, I will not do this during your days, for the sake of David, your father. I will tear it out of the hands of your son. ¹³ I will not tear the entire kingdom away. I will give your son one tribe for the sake of David, my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

¹⁴ Solomon’s Adversaries. The Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad, the Edomite, who was a descendant of the kings in Edom. ¹⁵ When David had been in Edom, and Joab, the commander of the army, had gone up to bury those who had been killed, for every male had been killed in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all of Israel had remained there for six months until they had killed every male in Edom), ¹⁷ Hadad had fled into Egypt along with certain Edomites who had been his father’s servants. Hadad was only a little child. ¹⁸ They came up out of Midian to Paran, and they took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who gave him a house and provided him with provisions and gave him some land.

¹⁹ Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave him the sister of his own wife to marry, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him in Pharaoh’s household. Genubath belonged to Pharaoh’s household, as if he were one of Pharaoh’s sons.

²¹ While he was in Egypt, he heard that David was now sleeping with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave so that I might return to my own land.” ²² Pharaoh said to him, “What have you ever been without that you seek to return to your own land?” He answered, “Nothing, but let me go anyway.”

²³ God also stirred up another adversary against him, Rezon, the son of Eliada. He had fled from his lord, Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. ²⁴ He gathered some men to himself and became the leader of a band of them when David conquered the forces of Zobah. They traveled to Damascus and dwelt there, reigning in Damascus. ²⁵ He was an adversary of Israel all through Solomon’s time, adding to the difficulties caused by Hadad. He ruled in Aram and despised Israel.

²⁶ Jeroboam’s Kingship Predicted. There was a certain Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother was a widow whose name was Zeruah. He rebelled against the king. ²⁷ This is how he rebelled against the king: Solomon built Millo and repaired the breaches in the wall of the City of David, his father. ²⁸ Jeroboam was an impressive man, and when Solomon saw that the young man was capable, he placed him in charge of the whole component of forced labor of the house of Joseph.

^29 [am]When Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, he was met along the way by Ahijah, the Shilonite, who was a prophet. He was wearing a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Ahijah grabbed the new garment that he was wearing and he tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ He then said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon and I will give you ten tribes. ³² One tribe will remain for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen from out of the tribes of Israel.

³³ “ ‘This is because he has abandoned me and he has worshiped Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Moloch, the god of the Ammonites. He has not walked in my paths, doing what was right in my sight by observing my statutes and ordinances as David, his father, did. ³⁴ But I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hands. I will keep him as ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David, my servant, whom I chose, for he observed my commandments and my statutes, ³⁵ but I will take it out of his son’s hands. I will then give you ten of the tribes. ³⁶ I will give one tribe to his son so that David, my servant, might have a light before me always in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen for my name.

³⁷ “ ‘I will take you, and you will reign over all that your heart desires. You will be the king over Israel. ³⁸ If you listen to all that I have commanded you and you walk in my ways and you do what is right in my sight, observing my statutes and my commandments, as David, my servant, did, then I will be with you and I will build a secure dynasty for you just as I built one for David. I will give you Israel. ³⁹ I will humble the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’ ”

⁴⁰ Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, so Jeroboam rose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak, the king of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon had died.

⁴¹ Solomon’s Death. As for the rest of Solomon’s deeds and the wisdom that he demonstrated, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴² Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel for forty years. ⁴³ Solomon then slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the City of David, his father. Rehoboam, his son, then ruled in his stead.