1 Kings 4; 1 Kings 6

1 Kings 4

1 King Solomon ruled over all Israel.

2 These are the names of his lead- ing officers: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, recorded what happened in the courts; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud recorded the history of the people;

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 was a priest and adviser to the king;

6 Ahishar was responsible for everything in the palace; Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the labor force.

7 Solomon placed twelve governors over the districts of Israel, who gathered food from their districts for the king and his family. Each governor was responsible for bringing food to the king one month of each year.

8 These are the names of the twelve governors: Ben-Hur was governor of the mountain country of Ephraim.

9 Ben-Deker was governor of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Bethhanan.

10 Ben-Hesed was governor of Arubboth, Socoh, and all the land of Hepher.

11 Ben-Abinadab was governor of Naphoth Dor. (He was married to Taphath, Solomon's daughter.)

12 Baana son of Ahilud was governor of Taanach, Megiddo, and all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan. This was below Jezreel from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah across from Jokmeam.

13 Ben-Geber was governor of Ramoth in Gilead. (He was governor of all the towns of Jair in Gilead. Jair was the son of Manasseh. Ben-Geber was also over the district of Argob in Bashan, which had sixty large, walled cities with bronze bars on their gates.)

14 Ahinadab son of Iddo was governor of Mahanaim.

15 Ahimaaz was governor of Naphtali. (He was married to Basemath, Solomon's daughter.)

16 Baana son of Hushai was governor of Asher and Aloth.

17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was governor of Issachar.

18 Shimei son of Ela was governor of Benjamin.

19 Geber son of Uri was governor of Gilead. Gilead had been the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. But Geber was the only governor over this district.

20 There were as many people in Judah and Israel as grains of sand on the seashore. The people ate, drank, and were happy.

21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought Solomon the payments he demanded, and they were under his control all his life.

22 Solomon needed much food each day to feed himself and all the people who ate at his table: one hundred ninety-five bushels of fine flour, three hundred ninety bushels of grain,

23 ten cows that were fed on good grain, twenty cows that were raised in the fields, one hundred sheep, three kinds of deer, and fattened birds.

24 Solomon controlled all the countries west of the Euphrates River -- the land from Tiphsah to Gaza. And he had peace on all sides of his kingdom.

25 During Solomon's life Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, also lived in peace; all of his people were able to sit under their own fig trees and grapevines.

26 Solomon had four thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand horses.

27 Each month one of the district governors gave King Solomon all the food he needed -- enough for every person who ate at the king's table. The governors made sure he had everything he needed.

28 They also brought enough barley and straw for Solomon's chariot and work horses; each person brought this grain to the right place.

29 God gave Solomon great wisdom so he could understand many things. His wisdom was as hard to measure as the grains of sand on the seashore.

30 His wisdom was greater than any wisdom of the East, or any wisdom in Egypt.

31 He was wiser than anyone on earth. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, as well as Heman, Calcol, and Darda -- the three sons of Mahol. King Solomon became famous in all the surrounding countries.

32 During his life he spoke three thousand wise sayings and also wrote one thousand five songs.

33 He taught about many kinds of plants -- everything from the great cedar trees of Lebanon to the weeds that grow out of the walls. He also taught about animals, birds, crawling things, and fish.

34 People from all nations came to listen to King Solomon's wisdom. The kings of all nations sent them to him, because they had heard of Solomon's wisdom.

1 Kings 6

1 Solomon began to build the Temple four hundred eighty years after the people of Israel had left Egypt. This was during the fourth year of King Solomon's rule over Israel. It was the second month, the month of Ziv.

2 The Temple was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high.

3 The porch in front of the main room of the Temple was fifteen feet deep and thirty feet wide. This room ran along the front of the Temple itself. Its width was equal to that of the Temple.

4 The Temple also had windows that opened and closed.

5 Solomon also built some side rooms against the walls of the main room and the inner room of the Temple. He built rooms all around.

6 The rooms on the bottom floor were seven and one-half feet wide. Those on the middle floor were nine feet wide, and the rooms above them were ten and one-half feet wide. The Temple wall that formed the side of each room was thinner than the wall in the room below. These rooms were pushed against the Temple wall, but they did not have their main beams built into this wall.

7 The stones were prepared at the same place where they were cut from the ground. Since these stones were the only ones used to build the Temple, there was no noise of hammers, axes, or any other iron tools at the Temple.

8 The entrance to the lower rooms beside the Temple was on the south side. From there, stairs went up to the second-floor rooms. And from there, stairs went on to the third-floor rooms.

9 Solomon put a roof made from beams and cedar boards on the Temple. So he finished building the Temple

10 as well as the bottom floor that was beside the Temple. This bottom floor was seven and one-half feet high and was attached to the Temple by cedar beams.

11 The Lord said to Solomon:

12 "If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David.

13 I will live among the Israelites in this Temple, and I will never leave my people Israel."

14 So Solomon finished building the Temple.

15 The inside walls were covered from floor to ceiling with cedar boards. The floor was made from pine boards.

16 A room thirty feet long was built in the back part of the Temple. This room, called the Most Holy Place, was separated from the rest of the Temple by cedar boards which reached from floor to ceiling.

17 The main room, the one in front of the Most Holy Place, was sixty feet long.

18 Everything inside the Temple was covered with cedar, which was carved with pictures of flowers and plants. A person could not see the stones of the wall, only the cedar.

19 Solomon prepared the inner room at the back of the Temple to keep the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord.

20 This inner room was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high. He covered this room with pure gold, and he also covered the altar of cedar.

21 He covered the inside of the Temple with pure gold, placing gold chains across the front of the inner room, which was also covered with gold.

22 So all the inside of the Temple, as well as the altar of the Most Holy Place, was covered with gold.

23 Solomon made two creatures from olive wood and placed them in the Most Holy Place. Each creature was fifteen feet tall

24 and had two wings. Each wing was seven and one-half feet long, so it was fifteen feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other.

25 The creatures were the same size and shape;

26 each was fifteen feet tall.

27 These creatures were put beside each other in the Most Holy Place with their wings spread out. One creature's wing touched one wall, and the other creature's wing touched the other wall with their wings touching each other in the middle of the room.

28 These two creatures were covered with gold.

29 All the walls around the Temple were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, as well as palm trees and flowers. This was true for both the main room and the inner room.

30 The floors of both rooms were covered with gold.

31 Doors made from olive wood were placed at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. These doors had five-sided frames.

32 Creatures with wings, as well as palm trees and flowers, were also carved on the two olive wood doors that were covered with gold. The creatures and the palm trees on the doors were covered with gold as well.

33 At the entrance to the main room there was a square door frame made of olive wood.

34 Two doors were made from pine. Each door had two parts so the doors folded.

35 The doors were covered with pictures of creatures with wings, as well as palm trees and flowers. All of the carvings were covered with gold, which was evenly spread over them.

36 The inner courtyard was enclosed by walls, which were made of three rows of cut stones and one row of cedar boards.

37 Work began on the Temple in Ziv, the second month, during the fourth year Solomon was king over Israel.

38 The Temple was finished during the eleventh year he was king, in the eighth month, the month of Bul. It was built exactly as it was planned. Solomon had spent seven years building it.