1 Kings 4; 1 Kings 6

1 Kings 4

1 King Solomon now ruled over all Israel,

2 and these were his high officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.

3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were court secretaries. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.

4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were priests.

5 Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors. Zabud son of Nathan, a priest, was a trusted adviser to the king.

6 Ahishar was manager of the palace property. Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of forced labor.

7 Solomon also had twelve district governors who were over all Israel. They were responsible for providing food for the king’s household. Each of them arranged provisions for one month of the year.

8 These are the names of the twelve governors: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim.

9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-bethhanan.

10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth, including Socoh and all the land of Hepher.

11 Ben-abinadab, in all of Naphoth-dor. (He was married to Taphath, one of Solomon’s daughters.)

12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, all of Beth-shan near Zarethan below Jezreel, and all the territory from Beth-shan to Abel-meholah and over to Jokmeam.

13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead, including the Towns of Jair (named for Jair of the tribe of Manasseh ) in Gilead, and in the Argob region of Bashan, including sixty large fortified towns with bronze bars on their gates.

14 Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim.

15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali. (He was married to Basemath, another of Solomon’s daughters.)

16 Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth.

17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar.

18 Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin.

19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, including the territories of King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan. There was also one governor over the land of Judah.

20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They were very contented, with plenty to eat and drink.

21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River in the north to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south. The conquered peoples of those lands sent tribute money to Solomon and continued to serve him throughout his lifetime.

22 The daily food requirements for Solomon’s palace were 150 bushels of choice flour and 300 bushels of meal ;

23 also 10 oxen from the fattening pens, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep or goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roe deer, and choice poultry.

24 Solomon’s dominion extended over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza. And there was peace on all his borders.

25 During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety. And from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, each family had its own home and garden.

26 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horses.

27 The district governors faithfully provided food for King Solomon and his court; each made sure nothing was lacking during the month assigned to him.

28 They also brought the necessary barley and straw for the royal horses in the stables.

29 God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore.

30 In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt.

31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations.

32 He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs.

33 He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish.

34 And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.

1 Kings 6

1 It was in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the LORD . This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt.

2 The Temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

3 The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple.

4 Solomon also made narrow recessed windows throughout the Temple.

5 He built a complex of rooms against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building.

6 The complex was three stories high, the bottom floor being 7 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10 feet wide. The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves.

7 The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site.

8 The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors.

9 After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of cedar beams and planks.

10 As already stated, he built a complex of rooms along the sides of the building, attached to the Temple walls by cedar timbers. Each story of the complex was 7 feet high.

11 Then the LORD gave this message to Solomon:

12 “Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David.

13 I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon finished building the Temple.

15 The entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was paneled with wood. He paneled the walls and ceilings with cedar, and he used planks of cypress for the floors.

16 He partitioned off an inner sanctuary—the Most Holy Place—at the far end of the Temple. It was 30 feet deep and was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.

17 The main room of the Temple, outside the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long.

18 Cedar paneling completely covered the stone walls throughout the Temple, and the paneling was decorated with carvings of gourds and open flowers.

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary at the far end of the Temple, where the Ark of the LORD ’s Covenant would be placed.

20 This inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with solid gold. He also overlaid the altar made of cedar.

21 Then Solomon overlaid the rest of the Temple’s interior with solid gold, and he made gold chains to protect the entrance to the Most Holy Place.

22 So he finished overlaying the entire Temple with gold, including the altar that belonged to the Most Holy Place.

23 He made two cherubim of wild olive wood, each 15 feet tall, and placed them in the inner sanctuary.

24 The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 7 feet long.

25 The two cherubim were identical in shape and size;

26 each was 15 feet tall.

27 He placed them side by side in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Their outspread wings reached from wall to wall, while their inner wings touched at the center of the room.

28 He overlaid the two cherubim with gold.

29 He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

30 He overlaid the floor in both rooms with gold.

31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made double doors of wild olive wood with five-sided doorposts.

32 These double doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The doors, including the decorations of cherubim and palm trees, were overlaid with gold.

33 Then he made four-sided doorposts of wild olive wood for the entrance to the Temple.

34 There were two folding doors of cypress wood, and each door was hinged to fold back upon itself.

35 These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers—all overlaid evenly with gold.

36 The walls of the inner courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone.

37 The foundation of the LORD ’s Temple was laid in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign.

38 The entire building was completed in every detail by midautumn, in the month of Bul, during the eleventh year of his reign. So it took seven years to build the Temple.