Bible in 90 Days
19 They came upon me unawares in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my stay.
20 He brought me forth into a large place; he delivered me, because he had put his will in me.
21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For I have all his ordinances before me and am attentive to his statutes; I will not depart from them.
24 And I was perfect before him and have kept myself from my iniquity.
25 Therefore, the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before his eyes.
26 With the merciful thou art good, and with the perfect thou art upright.
27 With the pure thou art pure, and with the perverse thou art an adversary.
28 Thou wilt save the poor in spirit; but thine eyes are upon the haughty that thou may bring them down.
29 For thou art my lamp, O LORD, and the LORD gives light unto my darkness.
30 For in thee I have run through a troop; with my God I have gone over the walls.
31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is purified; he is a shield to all those that trust in him.
32 For what God is there except the LORD? Or who is a Strong One, except our God?
33 God is he who strengthens me with virtue; he who clears my way;
34 he who makes my feet like hinds’ feet, and he who sets me upon my high places;
35 he who trains my hands for war and causes my arms to break the bow of bronze.
36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy saving health, and thy meekness has multiplied me.
37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me so that my knees did not shake.
38 I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them and did not return until I had consumed them.
39 And I consumed them and wounded them, and they did not arise; they are fallen under my feet.
40 For thou hast girded me with strength for the battle; thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
41 Thou hast given me the necks of my enemies, of those that hate me, that I might cut them off.
42 They looked, but there was no one to save them; even unto the LORD, but he did not answer them.
43 Then I beat them as small as the dust of the earth; I stamped them as the mire of the street and spread them abroad.
44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of peoples; thou hast kept me to be head of the Gentiles; peoples whom I did not know have served me.
45 The strangers trembled before my command; as soon as they heard, they obeyed me.
46 The strangers withered away and trembled in their close places.
47 The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God who is the rock of my salvation.
48 The God who has given me revenge and who subjects the peoples under me,
49 who brings me forth from among my enemies; thou hast lifted me up on high from among those that rose up against me; thou hast delivered me from the man of violence.
50 Therefore, I will confess thee among the Gentiles, O LORD, and I will sing unto thy name.
51 He who makes great the saving health of his king and shows mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for ever.
23 ¶ Now these are the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said, and the man who was raised up high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet cantor of Israel, said,
2 (The Spirit of the LORD has spoken by me, and his word has been in my tongue.
3 The God of Israel dictated unto me, the strong One of Israel spoke): He that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
4 And as the light of the morning when the sun rises, of a morning shining forth without clouds, as the shining forth through light rain upon the tender grass of the earth:
5 shall not my house be so with God, although all my saving health and my desire shall not be produced yet? For he has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things, and it shall be kept;
6 but those of Belial shall all be as thorns to be chased away, whom no one takes with the hand;
7 but the one that desires to touch them must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear, and they are completely burned with fire in their place.
8 ¶ These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: he that sat in the seat of wisdom, chief among the three: Adino, the Eznite, who on one occasion slew eight hundred enemies.
9 And after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men who were with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and those of Israel were gone away.
10 He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword; and the LORD wrought a great salvation that day, and the people returned after him only to spoil.
11 And after him was Shammah, the son of Agee, the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a community, where was an inheritance of land full of lentils, and the people had fled before the Philistines.
12 But he stood in the midst of the inheritance and defended it and slew the Philistines, and the LORD wrought a great salvation.
13 These three, who were of the thirty chief, went down and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam, and the camp of the Philistines was pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
14 And David was then in the fortress, and the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem.
15 And David longed and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!
16 Then these three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David; nevertheless, he would not drink of it, but poured it out unto the LORD, saying,
17 Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this; is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? And he would not drink it. These three mighty men did this.
18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them and had a name among the three.
19 He was the most honourable of the three and captain among them; however, he did not attain unto the first three.
20 Then, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, slew two lions of Moab; he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.
21 He also slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a staff and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and slew him with his own spear.
22 These things did Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and had a name among the three mighty men.
23 He had more honour than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David put him in his council.
24 Asahel, the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
25 Shammah of Harodi, Elika of Harodi,
26 Helez of Palti, Ira, the son of Ikkesh of Tekoah,
27 Abiezer of Anethoth, Mebunnai of Hushath,
28 Zalmon of Ahoh, Maharai of Netophath,
29 Heleb, the son of Baanah of Netophath, Ittai, the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin,
30 Benaiah, the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,
31 Abialbon of Arbath, Azmaveth of Barhum,
32 Eliahba of Shaalbon, Jonathan of the sons of Jashen,
33 Shammah of Harar, Ahiam, the son of Sharar of Harar,
34 Eliphelet, the son of Ahasbai, the son of Maachath, Eliam, the son of Ahithophel of Gilon,
35 Hezrai of Carmel, Paarai of Arbi,
36 Igal, the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani of Gadi,
37 Zelek of Ammon, Naharai of Beeroth, armourbearer to Joab, the son of Zeruiah,
38 Ira of Ithri, Gareb of Ithri,
39 Uriah, the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
24 ¶ And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
2 For the king said to Joab, the captain of the host, who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel from Dan unto Beersheba and number the people that I may know the number of the people.
3 And Joab replied unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people one hundredfold to however many there are and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?
4 Notwithstanding, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
5 And passing the Jordan, they pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lies in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer.
6 After that they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtimhodshi, and they came to Danjaan and about to Zidon.
7 Then they came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites, and they went out towards the Negev from Judah, even to Beersheba.
8 So when they had gone through all the land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king, and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
10 ¶ And David’s heart smote him after he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in having done this; but now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy slave, for I have done very foolishly.
11 And in the morning when David had risen, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
12 Go and say unto David, Thus hath the LORD said, I offer thee three things: choose one of them, which I will do unto thee.
13 So Gad came to David and told him and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? Or wilt thou flee three months before thy enemies while they pursue thee? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
14 Then David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait; let us fall now into the hand of the LORD, for his mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man.
15 So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the time appointed, and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.
16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD himself repented of that evil and said to the angel that was destroying the people, It is enough; stay now thy hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingfloor of Araunah, the Jebusite.
17 And David spoke unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people and said, I have sinned, I committed the iniquity, but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me and against my father’s house.
18 ¶ And Gad came that day to David and said unto him, Go up, erect an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah, the Jebusite.
19 And David went up, according to the word of Gad, as the LORD had commanded him.
20 And Araunah looked and saw the king and his slaves coming on toward him, and Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
21 And Araunah said, Why is my lord the king come to his slave? And David answered, To buy this threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good unto him; behold, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood;
23 all these things does king Araunah give unto the king. Then Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, No, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which costs me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
1 ¶ Now king David was old and stricken in years, and they covered him with clothes, but he did not become warm.
2 Therefore, his slaves said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin, and let her stand before the king and let her warm him and let her lie in thy bosom, and she shall warm my lord the king.
3 So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the borders of Israel and found Abishag, a Shunammite and brought her to the king.
4 And the damsel was very fair and warmed the king and ministered to him, but the king knew her not.
5 ¶ Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying, I will reign, and he prepared chariots and horsemen for himself and fifty men to run before him.
6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was very handsome; and he had begotten him after Absalom.
7 And he conferred with Joab, the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar, the priest who helped Adonijah.
8 But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Shimei and Rei and the mighty men of David did not follow Adonijah.
9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s slaves;
10 but he did not invite Nathan, the prophet, nor Benaiah nor the mighty men nor Solomon his brother.
11 ¶ And Nathan spoke unto Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, reigns without David our lord knowing of it?
12 Now, therefore, come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel that thou may deliver thine own life and the life of thy son Solomon.
13 Go and enter in unto King David and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? Why then does Adonijah reign?
14 And while thou art yet speaking there with the king, I also will come in after thee and finish thy words.
15 And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber; and the king was very old; and Abishag, the Shunammite, ministered unto the king.
16 And Bathsheba bowed and worshipped the king. And the king said, What dost thou desire?
17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou didst sware by the LORD thy God unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne;
18 and now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and now, my lord the king, thou dost not know it.
19 He has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance and has called all the sons of the king and Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the captain of the host; but he has not invited Solomon, thy slave.
20 And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee that thou should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 Otherwise, it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers that I and my son Solomon shall be counted as sinners.
22 And while she yet spoke with the king, Nathan, the prophet, also came in.
23 And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan, the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?
25 For today he has gone down and has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance and has called all the king’s sons and the captains of the host and Abiathar, the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him and say, Long live King Adonijah.
26 But he did not invite me, thy slave, nor Zadok, the priest, nor Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, nor thy slave Solomon.
27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not declared unto thy slave who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?
28 Then King David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.
29 And the king swore and said, As the LORD lives, who has ransomed my soul out of all distress,
30 even as I swore unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.
31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth and did reverence to the king and said, Let my lord King David live for ever.
32 ¶ And King David said, Call me Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. And they entered into the presence of the king.
33 And the king said unto them, Take with you the slaves of your lord and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule and bring him down to Gihon.
34 And let Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anoint him there king over Israel; and ye shall blow the shofar and say, Long live king Solomon.
35 Afterward ye shall come up after him that he may come and sit upon my throne, for he shall reign in my stead, for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.
36 Then Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king and said, Amen. Let the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.
37 As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so let him be with Solomon and let him make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.
38 So Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and caused Solomon to ride upon King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon.
39 And Zadok, the priest, took the horn of the oil of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the shofar, and all the people said, Long live king Solomon.
40 Afterward all the people came up following him, and the people sang with flutes and rejoiced with great joy so that it seemed the earth rent with the sound of them.
41 ¶ And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it when they had finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the shofar, he said, Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?
42 And while he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, came; and Adonijah said unto him, Come in, for thou art a valiant man and bringest good tidings.
43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord King David has made Solomon king.
44 And the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king’s mule;
45 and Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, have anointed him king in Gihon; and they are come up from there rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard.
46 And also Solomon has been seated on the throne of the kingdom.
47 And moreover, the king’s slaves came to bless our lord King David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king worshipped upon the bed.
48 And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne today, mine eyes even seeing it.
49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid and rose up and went each one his way.
50 And Adonijah, fearing the presence of Solomon, arose and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for he has caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his slave with the sword.
52 And Solomon said, If he will show himself virtuous, there shall not one hair of him fall to the ground, but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.
53 So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to King Solomon. And Solomon said unto him, Go to thy house.
2 ¶ Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon, his son, saying,
2 I go the way of all the earth; be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man.
3 Keep the charge of the LORD thy God, walking in his ways, keeping his statutes and his commandments and his rights and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou may have understanding in all that thou doest and in everything that thou dost undertake,
4 that the LORD may confirm the word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If thy sons take heed to their way, walking before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
5 Moreover thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me and what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel, unto Abner, the son of Ner and unto Amasa, the son of Jether, whom he slew, shedding the blood of war in peace and putting the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins and in his shoes that were on his feet.
6 Do, therefore, according to thy wisdom and let not his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace.
7 But show mercy unto the sons of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table, for they came thus unto me when I fled because of Absalom, thy brother.
8 And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei, the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.
9 Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for thou art a wise man and knowest what thou should do with him, but thou shalt bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood.
10 And David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.
11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
12 ¶ Then Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was established greatly.
13 Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.
14 He said moreover, I have a word to say unto thee. And she said, Say on.
15 And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel had set their faces on me that I should reign, but the kingdom is turned about and is become my brother’s, for by the LORD it was his.
16 And now I ask one petition of thee, do not deny me. And she said unto him, Say on.
17 Then he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king (for he will not deny thee) that he give me Abishag, the Shunammite to wife.
18 And Bathsheba said, Well, I will speak for thee unto the king.
19 Bathsheba, therefore, went unto King Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed himself unto her and sat down on his throne and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right hand.
20 Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, do not deny me. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother, for I will not deny thee.
21 And she said, Let Abishag, the Shunammite, be given to Adonijah, thy brother, to wife.
22 And King Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag, the Shunammite, for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my elder brother and he also has Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the son of Zeruiah.
23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.
24 Now, therefore, as the LORD lives, who has confirmed me, and set me on the throne of David, my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.
25 Then King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
26 ¶ And unto Abiathar, the priest, the king said, Go to Anathoth, unto thine own inheritance, for thou art worthy of death; but I will not put thee to death today because thou didst bare the ark of the Lord GOD before David, my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28 And the news came to Joab, for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he had not turned after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
29 And it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and that he was by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
30 And Benaiah entered into the tabernacle of the LORD and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, No, but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
31 And the king said unto him, Do as he has said and fall upon him and bury him that thou may take away from me and from the house of my father the blood which Joab shed without a cause.
32 And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and slew them with the sword without my father David knowing of it: Abner, the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
33 Their blood shall, therefore, return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever; but upon David and upon his seed and upon his house and upon his throne shall there be peace for ever from the LORD.
34 So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up and fell upon him and slew him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 ¶ And the king put Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, in his place over the host; and Zadok, the priest, the king put in the place of Abiathar.
36 Afterward the king sent and called for Shimei and said unto him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go forth from there anywhere.
37 For it shall be that on the day thou goest out and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die; thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
38 And Shimei said unto the king, The word is good as my lord the king has said, so will thy slave do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39 But it came to pass at the end of three years that two of the slaves of Shimei ran away unto Achish, son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy slaves are in Gath.
40 And Shimei arose and saddled his ass and went to Gath to Achish to seek his slaves. Shimei went, therefore, and brought his slaves from Gath.
41 And it was told Solomon how Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come again.
42 Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD and protested unto thee, saying, Know for certain, on the day thou goest out and walkest abroad anywhere that thou shalt surely die? And thou didst say unto me, The word that I have heard is good.
43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD and the commandment that I have charged thee with?
44 The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thy heart knoweth well that thou didst to David my father; therefore, the LORD has turned thy wickedness upon thine own head;
45 and King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever.
46 Then the king commanded Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who went out and fell upon him that he died. And the kingdom was confirmed in the hand of Solomon.
3 ¶ And Solomon became a relative of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, for he took Pharaoh’s daughter to wife and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the LORD and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
2 Until then the people sacrificed in high places because there was still no house built unto the name of the LORD until those days.
3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David, his father; only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
5 ¶ In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what you wish that I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shown unto thy slave David, my father, great mercy, according to the way he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great mercy that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy slave king instead of David my father; and I am but a tender young man; I do not know how to go out or come in.
8 And thy slave is in the midst of thy people whom thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 Give, therefore, thy slave a hearing heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this thy so great a people?
10 And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked for thyself long life neither hast asked riches for thyself nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to hear judgment,
12 behold, I have done according to thy words: behold, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and glory so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee in all thy days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments as thy father David walked, then I will lengthen thy days.
15 And when Solomon awoke, he beheld it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings and made a banquet for all his slaves.
16 ¶ In that season two women, that were harlots, came unto the king and stood before him.
17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18 And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered that this woman was delivered also and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us in the house.
19 And this woman’s child died in the night because she lay on top of him.
20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I had given birth to.
22 And the other woman said, No, but my son is alive, and thy son is dead. And this one said, No, but thy son is dead, and my son is alive. Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that is alive, and thy son is dead. And the other saith, No; but thy son is dead, and my son is alive.
24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two and give half to the one and half to the other.
26 Then the woman, of whom the living child was, spoke unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it, for she is its mother.
28 And all Israel heard of that judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to judge.
4 ¶ So king Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these were the princes which he had: Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest,
3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes, Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, writer of the chronicles;
4 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests;
5 Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over the officers; and Zabud, the son of Nathan, was the priest and special companion of the king;
6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, was over the tribute.
7 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who maintained the king and his household. Each one of them made provision for one month in the year.
8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in Mount Ephraim;
9 the son of Dekar, in Makaz and in Shaalbim and in Bethshemesh and in Elon and in Bethhanan;
10 the son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh and all the land of Hepher.
11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor, who had Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, to wife;
12 Baana, the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam;
13 the son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which were in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and brasen bars;
14 Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath, the daughter of Solomon, to wife.
16 Baanah, the son of Hushai, was in Asher and in Aloth;
17 Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 Shimei, the son of Elah, in Benjamin;
19 Geber, the son of Uri, was in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan; and in addition to these there was an officer over all the land.
20 ¶ Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.
21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt, and they brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of meal,
23 ten fat oxen and twenty oxen out of the pastures and one hundred sheep beside harts and roebucks and fallowdeer and fatted fowl.
24 For he had dominion over all the region on the other side of the river and from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on the other side of the river, and he had peace on all sides {Heb. with all the slaves} round about him.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand horses in his stables for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 And these officers maintained King Solomon and all that came unto king Solomon’s table, each one in his month; they made sure nothing was lacking.
28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and beasts of burden unto the place where he was, each one according to his charge.
29 ¶ And God gave Solomon exceedingly great wisdom and intelligence and magnanimity of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of the Egyptians.
31 For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman and Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and he was named in all nations round about.
32 And he spoke three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
33 And he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He also spoke of animals and of fowl and of serpents and of fishes.
34 And they came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
5 ¶ Hiram, king of Tyre, also sent his slaves unto Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father; for Hiram had always loved David.
2 Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3 Thou knowest how David, my father, could not build a house unto the name of the LORD his God, for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put his enemies under the soles of his feet.
4 Now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side so that there is neither adversary nor evil encounter.
5 And, therefore, I have determined to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God as the LORD spoke unto David, my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy place, he shall build a house unto my name.
6 Command, therefore, now that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon, and my slaves shall be with thy slaves, and I will give thee for thy slaves the hire that thou shalt appoint, for thou knowest that there is no one among us with the skill to hew timber like the Sidonians.
7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given unto David a wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou didst send to tell me, and I will do all thy desire concerning the timber of cedar and concerning the timber of fir.
9 My slaves shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea, and I will convey them by sea in rafts unto the place that thou shalt appoint me and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
10 ¶ So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household and twenty thousand measures of pure oil; this gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
12 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two made a covenant together.
13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men,
14 whom he sent to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; they were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the levy.
15 And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens and eighty thousand hewers in the mountains;
16 besides Solomon’s chief officers who were over the work, there were three thousand three hundred who ruled over the people that did the work.
17 And the king commanded that they bring great stones, costly stones, for the foundation of the house, and hewed stones.
18 And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders hewed them, and the stonesquarers; so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
6 ¶ And it came to pass in the year four hundred and eighty after the sons of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the beginning of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
2 And the house which King Solomon built for the LORD, was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.
3 And the porch before the temple of the house was twenty cubits long, according to the width of the house; and its width was ten cubits before the house.
4 And for the house he made windows broad within and narrow without.
5 And against the wall of the house, he built wings round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle; and he made chambers round about.
6 The lower wing was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide, for without in the wall of the house, he had made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.
7 And the house, when it was built, was put together of perfect stones made ready before they were brought there; so that there was no hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was being built.
8 The door for the middle wing was in the right side of the house; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle wing and out of the middle into the third.
9 So he built the house and finished it and covered the house with work of cedar placed in order.
10 And then he built the wing against all the house, five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
11 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
12 Concerning this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes and execute my rights and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will perform my word with thee, which I spoke unto David thy father;
13 and I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.
14 So Solomon built the house and finished it.
15 ¶ And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house and the walls of the ceiling; and he covered them on the inside with wood and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
16 And he built twenty cubits on the end of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar; and he built an oracle in the house, which is the holy of holies.
17 And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.
18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with wild gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen.
19 And he prepared the oracle in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
20 And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold and likewise covered the altar which was of cedar.
21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold, and he closed the door of the oracle with chains of gold, and he overlaid it with gold.
22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house; also the whole altar that was in front of the oracle he overlaid with gold.
23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
24 And one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits; from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.
25 Likewise, the other cherub was ten cubits, for both the cherubims were of one measure and one size.
26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub.
27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, 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.
28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 And at the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and side posts had five sides.
32 The two doors were of olive wood, and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers and overlaid them with gold and covered the cherubims and the palm trees with gold.
33 In the same manner he made posts of olive wood at the entrance of the temple with four sides.
34 The two doors were of fir; the two sides of the one door were rounded, and the two leaves of the other door were rounded.
35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
36 And he built the inner court with three orders of hewed stone and an order of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month Zif.
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and with everything necessary. So he was seven years in building it.
7 ¶ But Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
2 He also built the house of the forest of Lebanon, which was one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
3 And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row.
4 And there were windows in three orders, one against another in three orders.
5 And all the doors and posts were square, with some windows opposite the other windows in three orders.
6 And he made a porch of pillars, which was fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, and the porch was before those others, with its corresponding pillars and thick beams.
7 Then he made a porch for the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment; and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.
8 And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of like work. Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.
9 All these works were of costly stones, cut and sawed with saws according to the measurements, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside unto the great court.
10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.
11 And above were also costly stones, hewed according to their measurements, and work of cedar.
12 And the great court round about had three orders of hewed stones and an order of cedar beams, and likewise the inner court of the house of the LORD and the porch of the house.
13 ¶ And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre,
14 who was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been of Tyre. A worker in brass, full of wisdom and intelligence and knowledge in all work of brass. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work.
15 He made two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece, and a line of twelve cubits did compass each of them about.
16 And 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.
17 And nets of checker work and wreaths of chain work for the chapiters which were to be placed upon the top of the pillars, seven for the one chapiter and seven for the other chapiter.
18 And when he had made the pillars, he also made two orders of pomegranates round about upon the network to cover the chapiters that were upon the heads of the pillars with the pomegranates, and so did he for the other chapiter.
19 And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were in the form of lilies like those seen in the porch, for four cubits.
20 And the chapiters upon the two pillars had two hundred pomegranates in two orders round about in each chapiter, on top of the belly of the chapiter, this belly being in front of the network.
21 And he stood up the pillars in the porch of the temple. And when he had set up the right pillar, he called the name of it Jachin; {Heb. The LORD establishes} and in standing up the left pillar, he called its name Boaz. {Heb. Only in Him is there strength}
22 And upon the top of the pillars was lily work, and so the work of the pillars was finished.
23 Likewise, he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other; it was perfectly round, and its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
24 And under the brim of it round about there were knops like gourds compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about in two orders, which were made when it was cast.
25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north and three looking toward the west and three looking toward the Negev and three looking toward the east; and upon them the sea rested, and all their hinder parts were inward.
26 And it was a hand breadth thick, and its lip was made like the lip of a cup, with flowers of lilies; it contained two thousand baths.
27 He also made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of each base and four cubits the width and three cubits the height.
28 And the work of the bases was like this: they had borders, and the borders were between mouldings;
29 and upon the borders that were between the mouldings were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and upon the mouldings of the base, above and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of bevelled work.
30 And each base had four brasen wheels and cardinals {hinged axles} of brass, and in its four corners it had shoulderpieces, which were molten at the side of each addition, to be under the laver.
31 Its mouth entered into the chapiter (in the joint that came out of the base) one cubit above, and its mouth was rounded like the workmanship (of the same joint) in the base, of a cubit and a half. There were also engravings upon the mouth of it with their borders, which were square, not round.
32 And under the borders were the four wheels, and the axletrees of the wheels came forth from the same base. The height of each wheel was one and a half cubits.
33 And the workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel, their axletrees and their rims and their spokes and their hubs were all molten.
34 Likewise, the four shoulderpieces to the four corners of each base, and the shoulderpieces were of the very base itself.
35 And in the top of the base there was a rounded compass of half a cubit high and on the top of the base, its mouldings and borders which were part of it.
36 For on the tables of the mouldings and on the borders thereof, he made cherubim, lions, and palm trees, in front of the additions of each one round about.
37 After this manner he made ten bases cast in the same manner, of the same size and of the same shape.
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