Bible in 90 Days
19 They came against me in the day of my calamity,
but Adonai was my support.
20 He brought me out to a wide-open place.
He rescued me since He delighted in me.
21 Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness.
For the cleanness of my hands
He repaid me.
22 For I kept the ways of Adonai,
and did not turn wickedly from my God.
23 For all His judgments are before me.
As for His rulings,
I do not turn away from them.
24 I also had integrity with Him,
and kept myself from my sin.
25 So Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in His eyes.
26 With the loyal You deal loyally.
With the blameless You are blameless.
27 With the pure You show Yourself pure,
but with the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
28 You save lowly people.
But Your eyes are on the haughty—
You will humble them.
29 For You are my lamp, Adonai.
Adonai shines in my darkness.
30 For with You I rush on a troop,
with my God I can leap over a wall.
31 As for God, His way is perfect.
The word of Adonai is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
32 For who is God, besides Adonai?
and who is a Rock, besides our God?
33 God is my strong fortress
and He keeps my way blameless.
34 He makes my legs like a deer
and sets me on my heights.
35 Who trains my hands for battle,
so my arms can bend a bronze bow.
36 You gave me Your shield of salvation.
and Your answering has made me great.
37 You broaden my steps beneath me,
so my feet have not slipped.
38 I pursue my enemies and destroy them.
I will not return till they are consumed.
39 I consumed them and crushed them till they cannot rise;
yes, they fall beneath my feet.
40 You girded me with strength for battle.
You made those rising up against me bow down before me.
41 You also made my enemies turn their backs to me.
I cut off those who hate me.
42 They looked, but there was none to save
—to Adonai, but He did not answer them.
43 Then I beat them as the dust of the earth,
I stamped and crushed them like mud of the streets.
44 You free me from strifes of my people.
You kept me as head of the nations—
people I did not know are serving me.
45 Children of foreigners cringe before me.
As soon as they hear, they obey me.
46 Children of foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their hideouts.
47 Adonai lives! And blessed be my Rock!
Exalted be God—the Rock of my salvation!
48 God—He gives me vengeance
and brings down peoples under me.
49 He brings me out from my enemies.
Indeed You lift me up above those who rise up against me.
You deliver me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I praise You among the nations, Adonai,
and will sing praises to Your name.
51 He is a tower of salvation to His king,
He shows loyal love to His anointed—
to David and to his seed, forever.
23 Now these are the last words of David,
the utterance of David son of Jesse,
the utterance of the man raised on high,
the anointed of the God of Jacob
and the sweet singer of Israel:
2 “The Ruach Adonai has spoken through me
and His word is on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel has said,
the Rock of Israel has spoken to me,
‘He who rules over men righteously,
he who rules in the fear of God—
4 he is like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
a cloudless morning of glistening
as grass springs from the earth.’
5 Is it not true that my house is with God?
For He made an everlasting covenant with me,
ordered and secured in all things.
Will He not make all my salvation and every desire come to fruition?
6 But the worthless, all of them will be thrust aside like thorns,
for they cannot be picked up by hand.
7 But the man who touches them
must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear.
They must be completely burned up with fire on the spot.”
David’s Mighty Men
8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains—he wielded his spear against 800 and slew them in one encounter. 9 Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodo son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle. The men of Israel retreated, 10 but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines until his hand became weary and stuck to the sword. So Adonai brought about a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.
11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. Now the Philistines were assembled in formation where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it, and struck down the Philistines—so Adonai brought about a great victory.
13 Once the three of the thirty chiefs went down and came to David at the cave of Adullam during the harvest, while a troop of Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. 15 David said longingly, ‘ “Who would get me water to drink from the well which is by the gate in Bethlehem?” ’ 16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem by the gate, took it and brought it to David. However, he would not drink it but poured it out to Adonai 17 and he said, “‘Far be it from me, Adonai, that I should do this—the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?’” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
18 Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Thirty. Once he wielded his spear against 300 and killed them—he had a reputation among the Three. 19 He was the most honored of the Thirty, so he was made their commander; however, he did not become one of the Three.
20 Then there was Benaiah son of Jehoiada, son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds. He killed the two from Ariel of Moab. Once, on a snowy day, he went down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit. 21 He also killed an Egyptian—an impressive man—the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff, snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 These sort of things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did, so that he had a name as famous as that of the Three mighty men. 23 He was most honorable among the Thirty, but he attained not to the first Three. So David set him over his guard.
24 Asahel brother of Joab was one of the Thirty, also Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 27 Aviezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29 Heleb son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from the wadis of Gaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmavet the Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam son of Sharar the Ararite, 34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai son of the Maacathite, Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor-bearer to Joab son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 and Uriah the Hittite—37 in all.
David’s Unauthorized Census
24 Now the anger of Adonai again flared up against Israel, so He incited David against them saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 The king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Go about now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, so that I may know the sum of the people.”
3 But Joab said to the king, “May Adonai your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king looks on! But why does my lord the king desire such a thing?”
4 Nevertheless, the king’s command to Joab and the army generals remained firm. So Joab and the army generals went out from the king’s presence to number the people of Israel. 5 They crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and toward Jazer. 6 Then they went to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi. Then they came to Dan-jaan and round about to Sidon, 7 and came to the stronghold of Tyre, to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone throughout all the land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and 20 days. 9 Joab reported the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: there were in Israel 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword and the men of Judah were 500,000 men.
10 But David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David prayed to Adonai, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done! But now, Adonai, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
11 When David rose up in the morning, the word of Adonai came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying: 12 “Go and speak to David, thus says Adonai: ‘Three things I am proposing to you—choose one of them and I will bring it upon you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, saying to him, “Shall seven years of famine come on you in your land? Or will you flee from your adversary for three months while he is pursuing you? Or shall there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should return to Him who sent me.”
14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in a great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of Adonai, for His mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man.” 15 So Adonai sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, so that 70,000 men of the people died from Dan to Beersheba. 16 When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Adonai relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Now withdraw your hand.” The angel of Adonai was then by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 When David saw the angel that was striking down the people, he spoke to Adonai saying, “Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong! But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”
18 On that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up, set up an altar to Adonai on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up according to the word of Gad, as Adonai had commanded. 20 Now when Araunah looked down and saw the king and his courtiers crossing over toward him, Araunah went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to Adonai, so that the plague may be held back from the people.”
22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good in his eyes. Look here, the oxen for the burnt offering, as well as the threshing sledges and the ox yokes for the wood. 23 All this Araunah gives to the king.” Araunah said further to the king, “May Adonai your God accept you.”
24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you at a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to Adonai my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. 25 Then David built there an altar to Adonai, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. So Adonai was moved by prayer of entreaty for the land, and restrained the plague from Israel.
Rivalry for the Throne
1 Now King David was old, advanced in years. Though they covered him with clothes, he could not keep warm. 2 So his servants said to him: “Let them seek a young virgin for my lord the king, and let her attend the king and be his nurse; and let her lie by your side, so my lord the king may keep warm.”
3 So they sought for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The girl was very beautiful. So she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king was not intimate with her.
5 Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying: “I’ll be king!” So he prepared for himself chariots, horsemen and 50 men to run before him. 6 His father had not scolded him at any time by asking: “Why have you behaved this way?” He was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom.
7 So he conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the kohen. Following Adonijah, they supported him. 8 But Zadok the kohen, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei and David’s mighty men, were not on Adonijah’s side.
9 Then Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of Zoheleth[a], which is beside En-rogel, and invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants, 10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon. 11 But Nathan spoke to Bath-sheba, Solomon’s mother, saying: “Haven’t you heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has assumed the kingship—and our lord David doesn’t know it? 12 Now come, please let me give you advice. Save your own life and the life of your son Solomon! 13 Go at once to King David, and say to him: ‘My lord the king, haven’t you sworn to your handmaid, saying: “Surely your son Solomon will become king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Then why does Adonijah reign?’ 14 Behold, while you are still there talking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”
15 So Bath-sheba went to the king into the chamber. Now the king was very old, with Abishag the Shunammite serving the king. 16 Bath-sheba bowed and prostrated herself to the king. The king asked, “What troubles you?”
17 She said to him: “My lord, you swore by Adonai your God to your handmaid: ‘Surely, Solomon your son will be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ 18 Yet now, behold, Adonijah reigns, though you do not know it—my lord the king. 19 He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the kohen and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. 20 As for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered traitors.”
22 Then behold, while she was still talking with the king, the prophet Nathan came in, 23 and they informed the king, saying: “Behold the prophet Nathan is here.” When he came in before the king, he prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground.
24 Then Nathan said: “My lord the king, did you say: ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne?’ 25 For he has gone down today, slain oxen, fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, the captains of the army and Abiathar the kohen—and behold, they are eating and drinking with him, and they are saying: ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But he did not invite me, your servant, Zadok the kohen, Benaiah son of Jehoiada or your servant Solomon. 27 Was this thing done by my lord the king, without letting your servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”
28 Then King David answered and said: “Summon Bath-sheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. 29 Then the king swore an oath: “As Adonai lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress, 30 as surely as I swore to you by Adonai, the God of Israel, saying that your son Solomon will be king after me and will sit on my throne in my place. Thus I will surely fulfill it this day!”
31 Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the ground and prostrated herself before the king, and said: “Let my lord King David live forever!”
32 Then King David said: “Summon to me Zadok the kohen, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, 33 the king said to them: “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. 34 There let Zadok the kohen and Nathan the prophet anoint him as king over Israel, blow the shofar and say: ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne. For he shall be king in my place, as I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”
36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king and said: “Amen! Thus says Adonai, the God of my lord the king. 37 As Adonai has been with my lord the king, so will He be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David!”
38 So Zadok the kohen, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down, and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. 39 Then Zadok the kohen took the horn of oil out of the Tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the shofar, and all the people said: “Long live King Solomon!” 40 All the people went up after him, while the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the ground shook at their noise.
41 Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it, just as they finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the shofar, he said: “Why is the city in an uproar?”
42 While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan son of Abiathar the kohen came, and Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a valiant man, and surely bringing good news.”
43 But Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah: “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king. 44 Also the king has sent with him Zadok the kohen, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they had him ride on the king’s mule. 45 Zadok the kohen and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon. From there they have come up rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar—that’s the noise that you heard. 46 Also Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne. 47 Moreover, the king’s courtiers came to bless our lord King David, saying: ‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and his throne greater than your throne!’ Then the king bowed down on the bed. 48 Furthermore the king said, ‘Blessed be Adonai, God of Israel, who this day has given one to sit on my throne, while my eyes are seeing it.’”
49 Trembling, all the guests of Adonijah got up and each went his own way. 50 Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he arose, went, and grasped the horns of the altar. 51 So it was reported to Solomon: “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for look, he grasped the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’”
52 Then Solomon said, “If he shows himself a worthy man, then not a hair of him will fall to the ground. But if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”
53 So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. He came and prostrated himself before King Solomon, and Solomon said to him: “Go to your home.”
David’s Last Instructions
2 Now when the time of David drew near to die, he charged his son Solomon, saying: 2 “I—I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong[b] and be a man. 3 Keep the charge of Adonai your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His decrees, according to what is written in the Torah of Moses, so that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn 4 so that Adonai may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying: ‘If your children watch their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
5 “Moreover, you also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, whom he killed, shedding the blood of war in peacetime, and putting the blood of war on his waistband and on his sandals on his feet. 6 So act according to your wisdom, and let his gray hair not go down to Sheol in shalom. 7 But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table—for they befriended me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 8 Also behold, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by Adonai saying: ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 Now don’t let him go unpunished. For you are a wise man, and you will know how to deal with him, and bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood.”
10 Then David slept with his fathers[c] and was buried in the city of David. 11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years—seven years he reigned in Hebron and 33 years he reigned in Jerusalem. 12 Then Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was established firmly.
Solomon’s Throne Secured
13 Later Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba, Solomon’s mother. “Is your coming in shalom?” she asked.
“It is in shalom,” he said. 14 Then he said, “I have something to say to you.”
“Speak!” she said.
15 Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel looked to me to be the king. However, the kingship has turned about and become my brother’s—for it was his from Adonai. 16 So now one petition I ask of you; do not deny me.”
“Speak!” she said to him.
17 Then he said, “Please, speak to King Solomon—for he won’t turn you down—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”
18 “Very well,” said Bath-sheba, “I will speak to the king for you.”
19 So Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king rose up to greet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat down on his throne and had a throne set up for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right hand. 20 Then she said: “I ask one small petition of you; do not deny.”
“Ask, my mother,” the king said to her, “for I will not turn you down.”
21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”
22 King Solomon answered and said to his mother: “So why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom as well—for he is my older brother—for him and for Abiathar the kohen, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!” 23 Then King Solomon swore by Adonai saying: “May God do so to me and even more, if Adonijah does not pay with his own life for this request! 24 Now therefore, as Adonai lives who has established me and set me on the throne of my father David, and who has made me a house as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day.”
25 Then King Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada. He struck him down and he died.
26 Also to Abiathar the kohen the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you deserve death, but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of Adonai Elohim before my father David, and because you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” 27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being kohen to Adonai—so fulfilling the word of Adonai that He spoke at Shiloh about the house of Eli.
28 When the news came to Joab, he fled to the Tent of Adonai and grasped the horns of the altar—for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. 29 It was reported to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the Tent of Adonai, and behold, he was by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying: “Go, strike him down!”
30 So Benaiah came to the Tent of Adonai and said to him: “Thus says the king: Come out!”
But he replied: “No, for I will die here.”
Benaiah reported back to the king saying: “Thus said Joab and thus he answered me.”
31 Then the king commanded him: “Do as he has said—strike him down. Then bury him. So you will remove the blood that Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house. 32 Thus Adonai will return his blood on his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he—Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah—and killed them with the sword, without my father David’s knowledge. 33 May the guilt of their blood return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his offspring forever, but to David and his seed and his house, and his throne, may there be shalom forever from Adonai.”
34 Then Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck him down and killed him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35 Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and Zadok the kohen the king appointed in Abiathar’s place.
36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei, and commanded him: “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and depart not from there anywhere else. 37 For on the day you go out and cross over the Kidron valley, know for certain that you shall surely die—your blood shall be on your own head.”
38 “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. 39 But it came about at the end of three years that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. So they told Shimei, saying: “Behold, your servants are in Gath.” 40 So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey and went to Gath to Achish, to look for his servants; then Shimei went and brought his servants back from Gath. 41 But it was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and back. 42 So the king sent someone and summoned Shimei. He said to him: “Didn’t I make you swear by Adonai and forewarned you, saying: ‘Know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere else, you shall surely die’? You even said to me: ‘The saying is good; I have heard it.’ 43 Why then haven’t you kept the oath of Adonai and the commandment that I charged you with?” 44 The king added to Shimei: “You know all the evil, which your heart should acknowledge, that you did to my father David. Therefore Adonai will return your evil on your own head. 45 But King Solomon shall be blessed and the throne of David established before Adonai forever.” 46 So the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, so that he died. Thus the kingdom was secured in the hand of Solomon.
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
3 Then Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marriage, taking Pharaoh’s daughter, and bringing her to the city of David, until he finished building his own house, the House of Adonai, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no House built for the Name of Adonai until those days. 3 Now Solomon loved Adonai, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he kept sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. 4 So the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Upon this very altar Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings.
5 At Gibeon Adonai appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said: “Ask for what should I give you?”[d]
6 Solomon said: “You have shown my father Your servant David great lovingkindness, as he walked before You in truth, righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You. Indeed, You have kept this great lovingkindness for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. 7 So now, Adonai my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. I am but a youth. I don’t know how to go out or come in. 8 Your servant is amid Your people, whom You have chosen—a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 So give Your servant a mind of understanding to judge Your people, to discern between good and evil—for who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
10 Now it was pleasing in the eyes of Adonai that Solomon requested this thing. 11 So God said to him: “Because you asked for this thing—and have not asked for yourself long life, nor asked for yourself riches, nor asked for the life of your enemies, but asked for yourself understanding to discern justice— 12 behold, I have done according to your words. I have given you a wise and discerning mind, so that there has been none like you before you, nor shall anyone like you arise after you. 13 Moreover I have also given you what you did not request—both riches and honor—so that no one among the kings will be like you all your days. 14 Furthermore, if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
15 Then Solomon awoke and took note of the dream. So he went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he made a feast for all his courtiers.
Judging Between Two Women
16 Later two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One woman said: “My lord, please! This woman and I live in the same house, and I delivered a child while she was in the house. 18 On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth to a child. While we were together with no one else with us in the house, just the two of us in the house, 19 this woman’s child died during the night, because she lay on top of him. 20 Then she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your handmaid was asleep. She laid him at her breast and laid her dead child at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, he had just died! But when I looked at him closely in the morning, I realized that he was not the son I had borne!”
22 But the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son!”
But the first woman said, “No! The dead one is your son and the living one is my son!” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then said the king: “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead,’ while the other says, ‘No, but your son is the dead one and my son is the living one.’”
24 Then the king said: “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 Then the king said: “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose son was the living one spoke up to the king—for her heart grew tender for her son—and said, “My lord, please! Give her the living child! Only don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “It will be neither mine nor yours! Cut it in two!”
27 Then the king responded by saying, “Give her the living child and certainly don’t kill him. She is the mother.” 28 When all Israel heard of the verdict that the king had given, they were in awe of the king. For they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
Solomon’s Official Staff
4 Now King Solomon reigned over all Israel, 2 and these were his officials: Azariah son of Zadok, the kohen; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud, the recorder; 4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada, in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar, kohanim; 5 Azariah son of Nathan, in charge of the officers; Zabud son of Nathan the kohen, the king’s personal attendant; 6 Ahishar, in charge of the household; Adoniram son of Abda in charge of the forced labor.
7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each had to make provision for a month in the year. 8 These were 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 (his were Socoh and all the land of Hehper); 11 Ben-Abinadab in all the height of Dor (Taphath, Solomon’s daughter was his wife); 12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as beyond Jokmeam; 13 Ben-Geber, in Ramot-Gilead (his were the villages of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and also his were the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, 60 great cities with walls and bronze bars); 14 Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath, Solomon’s daughter, as wife); 16 Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and one who was the officer in the land.
20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in abundance, eating and drinking and rejoicing.
Wealth and Wisdom
5 Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines up to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. 2 Solomon’s provision for one day was 30 measures of fine flour, 60 measures of meal, 3 10 fat oxen, 20 pasture-fed oxen, 100 sheep, beside deer, gazelles, roebucks and fatted geese. [e] 4 For he had dominion over the entire region west of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River; and he had shalom on all sides around him. 5 So Judah and Israel lived securely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
6 Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 7 So those officers provided food for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 8 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to his charge.
9 God gave Solomon wisdom and discernment in great measure, and a breadth of understanding as vast as the sand on the seashore. 10 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 11 For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, or Heman, Calcol and Darda, sons of Mahol—and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 12 He also composed 3,000 proverbs and his songs were 1,005. 13 He also spoke about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall, and he spoke about beasts, birds, creeping things and fish. 14 People came from everywhere to hear the wisdom of Solomon—from all kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
Hiram Offers Materials
15 Then King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram was always a friend of David. 16 So Solomon sent word to Hiram saying: 17 “You know how my father David could not build a House for the Name of Adonai his God because of the wars around him on every side, until Adonai put them under the soles of my feet. 18 But now Adonai my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor bad incident. 19 So behold, I intend to build a House for the Name of Adonai my God, as Adonai spoke to my father David saying: ‘Your son, whom I will set upon your throne in your place, he will build the House for My Name.’
20 “So now, command that they cut cedars from Lebanon for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will give you wages for your servants according to whatever you say; for as you know, there is none among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
21 When Hiram heard Solomon’s words, he rejoiced greatly and said: “Blessed be Adonai today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” 22 So Hiram sent word to Solomon saying: “I have heard the message that you sent to me. I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber. 23 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you indicate to me. There I will break them up and you will carry them away. Then you will accomplish my desire by giving food for my household.”
24 So Hiram kept providing Solomon with cedar and cypress timber, as much as he desired, 25 and Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 measures of wheat for food for his household and 20 measures of beaten oil. Thus Solomon would give to Hiram year by year. 26 Adonai gave Solomon wisdom as He promised him, so there was shalom between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them cut a covenant.
27 King Solomon also imposed forced laborers from all Israel—the levy was 30,000 men. 28 He sent them to Lebanon, in shifts of 10,000 a month: they would stay a month in Lebanon, then two months at home. Adoniram was over the forced labor. 29 Solomon had 70,000 porters, and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, 30 besides Solomon’s chief officers that were over the work—3,300 who supervised the people who were doing the work. 31 Then the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the House with cut stones. 32 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders along with the Gebalites cut them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the House.
Building the Temple
6 Now it came to pass, 480 years after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv (which is the second month), that he began to build Adonai’s House. 2 Now the House that King Solomon built for Adonai was 60 cubits[f] long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. 3 The porch in front of the Sanctuary of the House was 20 cubits in length—corresponding to the breadth of the House—and its depth was ten cubits from the front of the House. 4 Also for the House he made windows with artistic frames. 5 Against the wall of the House he built a side-structure surrounding both the Temple and the inner Sanctuary; thus he made side-chambers all around. 6 The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide. All around on the outside he provided offset ledges in the wall of the House, so that the beams would not be inserted into the walls of the House. 7 For the House, while being constructed, was built of stone finished at the quarry; with neither hammer, axe nor any iron tool heard in the House during its construction.
8 The doorway to the lowest story of the side chambers was on the right side of the House. They went up by winding stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. 9 When he finished building the House, he covered the House with beams and planks of cedar. 10 He built the stories of the side-structure against the whole House, each five cubits high, and they were fastened to the House with timbers of cedar.
11 Then the word of Adonai came to Solomon saying: 12 “As for this House which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes, execute My ordinances and keep all My mitzvot by walking in them, then I will establish My word with you, which I spoke to your father David, 13 I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”[g]
14 So Solomon built the House and finished it. 15 He paneled the walls of the House on the inside with cedar planks of cedar; from the floor of the House to the ceiling he overlaid on the inside with wood; and he overlaid the floor of the House with planks of cypress. 16 Then he partitioned off 20 cubits at the rear part of the House, using cedar boards from the floor to the ceiling, building it as the inner Sanctuary—the Holy of Holies. 17 The House, that is, the Sanctuary, was 40 cubits long in front of the inner Sanctuary. 18 The cedar of the interior of the House was carved as gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was visible.
19 He prepared an inner Sanctuary within the House, to set there the ark of the covenant of Adonai. 20 The inner Sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in breadth and twenty cubits in height. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the cedar altar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the interior of the House with pure gold; and he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner Sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 So the entire House he overlaid with gold until the entire House was finished; even the entire altar by the inner Sanctuary he overlaid with gold.
23 In the inner Sanctuary he made two cheruvim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 The length of one wing of the cheruv was five cubits and the length of the other wing of the cheruv was five cubits—ten cubits from the end of one wing to the end of the other, 25 and the other cheruv was also ten cubits. Both cheruvim were the same in measure and form: 26 the height of the one cheruv was ten cubits and so the other cheruv. 27 Then he placed the cheruvim inside the inner House. When the wings of the cheruvim extended, the wing of the one touched one wall while the wing of the other cheruv touched the other wall, while their wings in the center of the House touched one another. 28 He also overlaid the cheruvim with gold.
29 Then he carved all the walls surrounding the House with carved engravings of cheruvim, palm trees and open flowers, in both the inner and outer rooms, 30 and he also covered the floor of both the inner and the outer rooms of the House with gold. 31 For the entrance of the inner Sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the frame of the doorposts having five angles. 32 As for the double doors of olive wood, he carved on them carvings of cheruvim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He beat out gold over the cheruvim and over the palm trees.
33 He also made for the Temple entrance four-sided doorposts of olive wood 34 and double doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35 He carved cheruvim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the graven work. 36 He built the inner court with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year, in the month of Ziv, the foundation of the House of Adonai was laid, 38 and in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (which is the eighth month), the House was completed in all its parts and according to all its details. So he was seven years building it.
Solomon’s Palace Complex
7 But it took Solomon 13 years to build and complete his own palace. 2 He also built the Forest House of Lebanon: its length was 100 cubits, its width 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits, built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. 3 It was paneled with cedar above the side chambers, which were on 45 pillars—15 in a row. 4 And there were window frames in three rows, with window opposite window in three ranks. 5 And all the doorways had rectangular frame, and with window opposite to window in three tiers.
6 He also made a portico of columns, 50 cubits long and 30 cubits wide, with a porch in front, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof. 7 He also made the Hall of the Throne where he would judge—the Hall of Justice. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the ceiling.
8 His house where he would dwell, set farther back of the hall, was of the same construction. He also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom Solomon had taken to wife.
9 All these were made of expensive stones—stone cut to size and sawed with saws inside and outside—from the foundation to the top and from the outside to the great court. 10 The foundation was also made of expensive stones—huge stones, stones eight cubits and stones ten cubits. 11 Above were expensive stones, cut to measure, and cedar wood. 12 The surrounding great courtyard had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams, the same as the inner court of the House of Adonai and the portico of the House.
Hiram the Bronze Craftsman
13 King Solomon sent for and had Hiram brought from Tyre. 14 He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, while his father was a man of Tyre, a coppersmith, and he was filled with wisdom, understanding and skill to do any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and executed all his work. 15 He fashioned the two bronze pillars, 18 cubits high and 12 cubits in circumference each. 16 He also made two capitals of molten bronze to set upon the tops of the pillars (the height of each capital was five cubits), 17 nettings of latticework and twisted threads of chain work for the capitals were on top of the pillars—seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital. 18 So he made the pillars with two rows of pomegranates all around on the netting covering the capitals on top of each capital. 19 The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the portico were of lily design, four cubits high. 20 So also the capitals on the two pillars—close to the belly next to the netting were the pomegranates in rows of 200 around both capitals.
21 Thus he set up the pillars at the porticos of the Temple. He set up the right pillar and named it Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz. [h] 22 On the top of the pillars was lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished.
23 Next he made the sea of cast metal, ten cubits across from brim to brim, circular in form, five cubits in its height and 30 cubits in circumference. 24 Under its brim there were gourds encircling it, ten per cubit, completely surrounding the sea. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with it. 25 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts were inward. 26 It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the petals of a lily; it held 11,000 gallons.
27 Then he made ten bases of bronze—the length of each base was four cubits, the width four cubits and the height three cubits. 28 The structure of the bases was as follows: they had borders, and borders between the frames, 29 and on the borders that were below the frames were lions, oxen and cheruvim. On the frames there was a pedestal manner above, and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. 30 Each base had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. Its four legs had brackets; the brackets were beneath the laver, cast with wreaths at each side. 31 Its opening inside the crown at the top was a cubit high, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half, and also on its opening were engravings, and their borders were square, not round. 32 The four wheels were underneath the borders, and the axles of the wheels were in the base. The height of a wheel was a cubit and half. 33 And the structure of the wheels was like the structure of a chariot wheel; their axletrees, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast metal. 34 There were four brackets at the four corners of each base; each bracket was of one piece with the base itself. 35 On top of the base there was a band half a cubit high encircling it—its braces and its borders were part of it. 36 On the plates of the braces and on its borders, he engraved cheruvim, lions and palm trees, wherever there was clear space around each, with encircling wreaths. 37 He made the ten bases like this—all of them cast from the same mold, the same size and same shape.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.