1 Kings 4-7

I Kings 4

¹And king Solomon was king over all Israel.

²And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder;

⁴and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was priest, and the king’s friend;

⁶and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the levy.

⁷And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year:

⁸And these are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim:

⁹Ben-deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan:

¹⁰Ben-hesed, in Arubboth; to him pertained Socoh, and all the land of Hepher:

¹¹Ben-abinadab, in all the height of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

¹²Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam:

¹³Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; even to him pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:

¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim:

¹⁵Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

¹⁶Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth:

¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:

¹⁸Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin:

¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land.

²⁰Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.

²¹And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²²And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal;

²³ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl.

²⁴For he had dominion over all the region on this side the River, from Tipsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

²⁵And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

²⁶And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

²⁷And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they let nothing be lacking.

²⁸Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

³⁰And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

³¹For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about.

³²And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

³³And he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

³⁴And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

I Kings 5

¹And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.

²And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,

³Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house for the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.

⁴But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary, nor evil occurrent.

⁵And, behold, I purpose to build an house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build the house for my name.

⁶Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Zidonians.

⁷And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.

⁸And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the message which thou hast sent unto me: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.

⁹My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.

¹⁰So Hirah gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire.

¹¹And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.

¹²And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

¹³And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.

¹⁴And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.

¹⁵And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains;

¹⁶besides Solomon’s chief officers that were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.

¹⁷And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone.

¹⁸And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.

I Kings 6

¹And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

²And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.

³And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

⁴And for the house he made windows of fixed lattice-work.

⁵And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made side-chambers round about:

⁶The nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for on the outside he made rebatements in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold in the walls of the house.

⁷And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready at the quarry: and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

⁸The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right side of the house: and they went up by winding stairs into the middle chambers, and out of the middle into the third.

⁹So he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.

¹⁰And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

¹¹And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,

¹²Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I establish my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.

¹³And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

¹⁴So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

¹⁵And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house unto the walls of the cieling, he covered them on the inside with wood: and he covered the floor of the house with boards of fir.

¹⁶And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the walls: he even built them for it within, for an oracle, even for the most holy place.

¹⁷And the house, that is, the temple before the oracle, was forty cubits long.

¹⁸And there was cedar on the house within, carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

¹⁹And he prepared an oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

²⁰And within the oracle was a space of twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold: and he covered the altar with cedar.

²¹So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.

²²And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.

²³And in the oracle he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

²⁴And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.

²⁵And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.

²⁶The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.

²⁷And he set the cherubim within the inner house: and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.

²⁸And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.

³⁰And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

³¹And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive wood: the lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall.

³²So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm trees.

³³So also made he for the entering of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall;

³⁴and two doors of fir wood; the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

³⁵And he carved thereon cherubim and palm trees and open flowers: and he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven work.

³⁶And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams.

³⁷In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Ziv.

³⁸And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.

I Kings 7

¹And Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

²For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

³And it was covered with cedar above over the forty and five beams, that were upon the pillars; fifteen in a row.

⁴And there were prospects in three rows, and light was over against light in three ranks.

⁵And all the doors and posts were square in prospect: and light was over against light in three ranks.

⁶And he made the porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and thick beams before them.

⁷And he made the porch of the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.

⁸And his house where he might dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, (whom Solomon had taken to wife,) like unto this porch.

⁹All these were of costly stones, even of hewn stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside unto the great court.

¹⁰And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

¹¹And above were costly stones, even hewn stone, according to measure, and cedar wood.

¹²And the great court round about had three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams; like as the inner court of the house of the LORD, and the porch of the house.

¹³And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.

¹⁴He was the son of a widow woman of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and cunning, to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.

¹⁵For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits compassed either of them about.

¹⁶And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits.

¹⁷There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.

¹⁸So he made the pillars; and there were two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars: and so did he for the other chapiter.

¹⁹And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits.

²⁰And there were chapiters above also upon the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other chapiter.

²¹And he set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.

²²And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

²³And he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and the height thereof was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.

²⁴And under the brim of it round about there were knops which did compass it, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round about: the knops were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

²⁵It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set upon them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.

²⁶And it was an handbreadth thick; and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths.

²⁷And he made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.

²⁸And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders; and there were borders between the ledges:

²⁹and on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and upon the ledges there was a pedestal above: and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

³⁰And every base had four brasen wheels, and axles of brass: and the four feet thereof had undersetters: beneath the laver were the undersetters molten, with wreaths at the side of each.

³¹And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: and the mouth thereof was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings, and their borders were foursquare, not round.

³²And the four wheels were underneath the borders; and the axletrees of the wheels were in the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.

³³And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their felloes, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten.

³⁴And there were four undersetters at the four corners of each base: the undersetters thereof were of the base itself.

³⁵And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the stays thereof and the borders thereof were of the same.

³⁶And on the plates of the stays thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubim, lions, and palm tress, according to the space of each, with wreaths round about.

³⁷After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form.

³⁸And he made ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.

³⁹And he set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

⁴⁰And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he wrought for king Solomon in the house of the LORD:

⁴¹the two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars;

⁴²and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars;

⁴³and the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases;

⁴⁴and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea;

⁴⁵and the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of the LORD, were of burnished brass.

⁴⁶In the Plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

⁴⁷And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out.

⁴⁸And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the LORD: the golden altar, and the table whereupon the shewbread was, of gold;

⁴⁹and the candlesticks, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;

⁵⁰and the cups, and the snuffers, and basons, and the spoons, and the firepans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple, of gold.

⁵¹Thus all the work that king Solomon wrought in the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.