Bible in 90 Days
19 “They confronted me in my hour of calamity,
but the Lord came forward to support me.
20 He set me free in a spacious field;
he rescued me because he loves me.
21 “The Lord has rewarded me for my righteousness;
because my hands were pure he has recompensed me.
22 [a]For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not followed the path of wickedness.
23 “His laws are clearly known to me,
and I have not failed to observe his decrees.
24 I was blameless in his sight,
and I kept myself free from sin.
25 Therefore, the Lord has rewarded my righteousness,
the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to the blameless you show yourself blameless.
27 To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the perverse you show yourself to be shrewd.
28 Those who are humble you save,
but you ignore those who are haughty.
29 “You, O Lord, are my lamp;
my God will enlighten my darkness.
30 With your help I can storm a rampart;
with my God to aid me I can scale any wall.
31 The way of God is blameless;
the Lord’s promise has proved true.
He is a shield to all
who take refuge in him.
32 “For who is God except the Lord?
Who is a rock aside from our God?
33 The God who girds me with strength
has kept my feet free of obstacles.
34 This God has made my feet swift as a deer’s
and set me securely on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for war
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 “You have given me the shield of salvation;
you stoop down to make me great.
37 You broaden the path for my steps,
and my feet have not slipped.
38 “I pursued my enemies and destroyed them;
I did not turn back until I made an end of them.
39 I crushed them completely and they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.
40 “You girded me with strength for the battle;
you subdued my assailants beneath me.
41 You caused my enemies to retreat before me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
42 “They cried out for help,
but there was no one to save them.
They cried out to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
43 I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth;
I trampled them down like dust in the streets.
44 “You have delivered me from the strife of my people;
you made me the head of the nations;
a people I did not know became my subjects.
45 Foreigners came forth cringing before me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46 Having become disheartened,
they came forth trembling from their strongholds.
47 “The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock.
Exalted be the God of my salvation
48 O God, you granted me vengeance
and subjected entire nations to me.
49 You freed me from my enemies
and exalted me above my adversaries,
delivering me from violent men.
50 “For this I will praise you among the nations, O Lord,
and sing praise to your name.
51 You have given great victories to your king,
and you have shown steadfast love to your anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”
Chapter 23
The Last Words of David[b] 1 These are the last words of David:
“The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man whom the Most High exalted,
the anointed of the God of Jacob
and the beloved of the Mighty One of Israel:
2 “The Spirit of the Lord has spoken through me;
his word is on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said of me:
‘He who rules people justly,
who rules in the fear of God
4 is like the morning light at sunrise
on a cloudless morning after rainfall
that causes the grass of the earth to sparkle.’
5 “My house stands firm with God,
for he has made an everlasting covenant with me,
well ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not bring to fruition
my salvation and my every desire?
6 “But the ungodly are all like thorns
that must be cast aside,
for they cannot be grasped by the hand.
7 No one dares to touch them
except with an iron bar or the shaft of a spear,
and then only to consume them by fire.”
David’s Warriors. 8 These are the names of David’s warriors. Ishbaal, a Hachamonite, was the leader of the Three. It was he who brandished his spear over eight hundred men and slew all of them at one time.
9 Next to him among the Three was Eleazar, the son of Dodo the Ahohite. He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines had assembled there for battle. When the Israelites withdrew, 10 he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines until his hand became so stiff that he was unable to release it from the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Afterward the people rallied around him, but only so that they might be able to strip the dead.
11 Next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together at Lehi where there was a field with an abundant crop of lentils. When the Israelites fled upon being confronted by the Philistines, 12 Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and cut down the Philistines. Thus the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 At the beginning of the harvest, three of the Thirty went down to join David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, and there was a garrison of Philistines in Bethlehem.
15 One day David said longingly: “Oh, if only someone would give me some water to drink from the well that is by the gate of Bethlehem!” 16 On hearing this, the Three forced their way through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well by the gate of Bethlehem, and presented it to David. However, he refused to drink it, and instead, he poured it out to the Lord, 17 saying: “The Lord forbid that I should do this. How can I drink the blood of the men who went forth to obtain it and thereby placed their lives at risk?” Therefore, he would not drink it.
18 Abishai, the brother of Joab and the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Thirty. It was he who brandished his spear over three hundred men whom he had killed. 19 He was the most illustrious member of the Thirty and he became their commander. However, he never became one of the Three.
20 Benaiah of Kabzeel was the son of Jehoiada and a valiant warrior who was renowned for many great exploits. It was he who slaughtered two of Moab’s most renowned warriors. On one occasion he also lowered himself into a pit and killed a lion on a day when snow had fallen. 21 Further-more, he was the one who slew an Egyptian, a man of striking stature who was armed with a spear. Benaiah went against him with a club, wrested the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear. 22 Such exploits of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, won for him a name among the Thirty warriors. 23 Although he commanded greater respect than the rest of the Thirty, he was not equal to the Three. David appointed him to be the commander of his bodyguard.
24 Among the Thirty were Asahel, the brother of Joab; Elhanan, the son of Dodo, from Bethlehem; 25 Shammah from Harod; Elika from Harod; 26 Helez from Beth-pelet; Ira, the son of Ikkesh, from Tekoa; 27 Abiezer from Anathoth; Mebunnai the Hushathite; 28 Zalmon the Ahohite; Maharai from Netophah; 29 Heled, the son of Baanah, from Netophah; Ittai, the son of Ribai, from Gibeah in Benjamin; 30 Benaiah from Pira-thon; Hiddai from the torrents of Gaash; 31 Ali-albon from Beth-arabah; Azmaveth from Bahurim; 32 Eliahba from Shaalbon; the sons of Jashen; 33 Jonathan, the son of Shammah, from Harar; Ahiam, the son of Sharar, from Harar; 34 Eliphelet, the son of Abishai, from Bath-maacah; Eliam, the son of Ahithophel, from Gilo; 35 Hezro from Carmel; Paarai the Arbite; 36 Igal, the son of Nathan, from Zobah; Bani the Gadite; 37 Zelek the Ammonite; Nahari from Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab, the son of Zeruiah; 38 Ira the Ithrite; Gareb the Ithrite; 39 Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.
Chapter 24[c]
Census of the People. 1 Once again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying: “Go forth and take a census of Israel and Judah.” 2 Therefore, the king said to Joab and to all the army commanders who were with him: “Go throughout all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and take a census of the people so that I may know how many there are.”
3 Joab said to the king in response: “May the Lord, your God, increase the number of your people a hundredfold, and may the eyes of my lord the king live to see it. But why does my lord the king want to undertake this task?” 4 However, the king was determined to follow through on this enterprise, and he overruled Joab and the army commanders. Therefore, they departed from the presence of the king in order to take the census.
5 After crossing the Jordan, they began at Aroer and the town in the middle of the valley, and then they moved on toward Gad and Jazer. 6 After that, they proceeded to Gilead and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites. Next they came to Dan, and from Dan they cut across to Sidon 7 and arrived at the fortress of Tyre, moving on afterward to all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites, and then to the Negeb of Judah, at Beer-sheba.
8 Having traveled throughout the entire country, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 Joab then reported to the king the number of those who had been recorded in the census. In Israel there were eight hundred thousand men who were fit for military service, and in Judah there were five hundred thousand.[d]
10 The Pestilence. However, after the census had been taken, David was stricken with remorse, and he said to the Lord: “I have committed a grievous sin in what I have done. I beseech you, Lord, to forgive the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 11 When David arose the following morning, the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying: 12 “Go forth and say to David: ‘This is the word of the Lord: “I offer you three alternatives.” Choose one of them, and I will inflict it upon you.” ’ ”
13 Therefore, Gad came to David and reported what the Lord had said. Then he asked him: “Which do you choose? Do you prefer three years of famine to afflict your land? Or do you prefer to take flight for three months while your enemies pursue you? Or do you prefer to have your land afflicted with three days of pestilence? Consider carefully the choices you have been offered and decide what answer I am to take back to the one who sent me.”
14 David said to Gad: “I am in a desperate plight. It is far better to fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Let me not fall into the hands of men.” 15 Therefore, David chose the option of the pestilence. Then the Lord sent a pestilence throughout Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people died, from Dan to Beer-sheba.
16 However, when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord regretted the terrible calamity that he had approved, and he said to the angel who was afflicting the people: “That is enough! Stay your hand!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord: “I was the one who sinned. I was the one who acted wickedly. What have these sheep done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.”
18 Sacrifice of Atonement. On that day Gad came to David and said to him: “Go up and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 Therefore, David obeyed Gad’s instructions and went up as the Lord had commanded.
20 When Araunah looked down and beheld the king and his retinue coming toward him, he went forth and prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Then Araunah asked: “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied: “I have come to purchase the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord so that the plague may be lifted from the people.”
22 In reply, Araunah said to David: “I beseech my lord the king to take and offer up whatever he wishes. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering, as well as the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” Then he added: “May the Lord, your God, look favorably upon your offering.”
24 However, the king said to Araunah: “No. I insist on paying you for this. Under no circumstances will I offer up to the Lord, my God, burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” Therefore, David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.[e]
25 Then David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, the Lord answered David’s supplications for the land, and the plague was lifted from Israel.
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.[f] 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 [g]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.[h] 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.[i] 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.[j]
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 [k]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 [l]“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.[m] 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.[n] 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.[o]
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.[p]
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 [q]In the meantime, the people sacrificed upon the high places,[r] 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.[s]
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.[t] 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[u] 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,[v] 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.[w] 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 [x]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.[y] 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.[z]
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.[aa]
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.[ab] 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 [ac]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.[ad] 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.
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