Solomon Asks God for Wisdom

1 Solomon was the son of David. Solomon made his position secure over his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him. He made Solomon very great.

² Solomon spoke to the whole community of Israel. He spoke to the commanders of thousands of men and commanders of hundreds. He spoke to the judges and all the leaders in Israel. He spoke to the leaders of Israel’s families. ³ Solomon and the whole community went to the high place at Gibeon. That’s because God’s tent of meeting was there. The Lord’s servant Moses had made the tent in the desert. ⁴ David had carried up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. He had it brought to the place he had prepared for it. He had set up a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵ But the bronze altar that Bezalel had made was in Gibeon. Bezalel was the son of Uri. Uri was the son of Hur. The altar was in front of the Lord’s holy tent. So Solomon and the whole community asked the Lord for advice in Gibeon. ⁶ Solomon went up to the bronze altar in front of the Lord at the tent of meeting. Solomon sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar.

⁷ That night God appeared to Solomon. He said to him, “Ask for anything you want me to give you.”

⁸ Solomon answered God, “You were very kind to my father David. Now you have made me king in his place. ⁹ Lord God, let the promise you gave to my father David come true. You have made me king. My people are as many as the dust of the earth. They can’t be counted. ¹⁰ Give me wisdom and knowledge. Then I’ll be able to lead these people. Without your help, who would be able to rule this great nation of yours?”

¹¹ God said to Solomon, “I am glad that those are the things you really want. You have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor. You have not even asked to have your enemies killed. You have not asked to live for a long time. Instead, you have asked for wisdom and knowledge. You want to be able to rule my people wisely. I have made you king over them. ¹² So wisdom and knowledge will be given to you. I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor. You will have more than any king before you ever had. And no king after you will have as much.”

¹³ Then Solomon left the high place at Gibeon. He went from the tent of meeting there to Jerusalem. And he ruled over Israel.

¹⁴ Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept some of them in the chariot cities. He kept others with him in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones. He made cedar wood as common there as sycamore-fig trees in the western hills. ¹⁶ Solomon got horses from Egypt and Kue. The king’s buyers purchased them from Kue at the current price. ¹⁷ They could get a chariot from Egypt for 15 pounds of silver. They could get a horse for less than four pounds of silver. They sold horses and chariots to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

2 Solomon gave orders to build a temple. That’s where the Lord would put his Name. Solomon also gave orders to build a royal palace for himself. ² He chose 70,000 men to carry things. He chose 80,000 to cut stones in the hills. He put 3,600 men in charge of them.

³ Solomon sent a message to Hiram. Hiram was king of Tyre. Solomon said,

“Send me cedar logs, just as you did for my father David. You sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. ⁴ Now I’m about to build a temple. The Name of the Lord my God will be there. I’ll set the temple apart for him. Sweet-smelling incense will be burned in front of him there. The holy bread will be set out at regular times. Burnt offerings will be sacrificed there every morning and evening. They will be sacrificed every Sabbath day. They will be sacrificed at every New Moon feast. And they will be sacrificed at every yearly appointed feast of the Lord our God. That’s a law for Israel that will last for all time to come.

⁵ “The temple I’m going to build will be beautiful. That’s because our God is greater than all other gods. ⁶ So who is able to build a temple for him? After all, the heavens can’t hold him. In fact, not even the highest heavens can hold him. So who am I to build a temple for him? It will only be a place to burn sacrifices in front of him.

⁷ “Send me a man skilled at working with gold, silver, bronze and iron. He must also be able to work with purple, blue and bright red yarn. He must be skilled in the art of carving. Send him to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers. My father David provided them to help me.

⁸ “Also send me cedar, juniper and algum logs from Lebanon. I know that your servants are skilled in cutting wood there. My servants will work with yours. ⁹ They’ll provide me with plenty of lumber. That’s because the temple I’m building must be large and beautiful. ¹⁰ I’ll pay your servants. They will cut the wood. I’ll pay them 3,600 tons of wheat that has been ground up. I’ll pay them 3,000 tons of barley. I’ll also pay them 120,000 gallons of wine and 120,000 gallons of olive oil.”

¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre replied to Solomon. He wrote a letter to him. In it Hiram said,

“The Lord loves his people. That’s why he has made you their king.”

¹² Hiram continued,

“I praise the Lord. He is the God of Israel. He made heaven and earth. He has given King David a wise son. You have good sense. You understand what is right. You will build a temple for the Lord. You will also build a palace for yourself.

¹³ “I’m sending Huram-Abi to you. He is very skillful. ¹⁴ His mother was from Dan. His father was from Tyre. He is trained to work with gold, silver, bronze and iron. He knows how to work with stone and wood. He can also work with purple, blue and bright red yarn and fine linen. He’s skilled in all kinds of carving. He can follow any pattern you give him. He’ll work with your skilled workers. He’ll also work with those of your father David. David was my master.

¹⁵ “Now please send us what you promised. Send us the wheat, barley, olive oil and wine. ¹⁶ And we’ll cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need. We’ll make rafts out of them. We’ll float them by sea down to Joppa. Then you can take them up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷ Solomon counted all the outsiders who were living in Israel. He did it after his father David had counted them. There were 153,600 of them. ¹⁸ He chose 70,000 to carry things. He chose 80,000 to cut stones in the hills. He put 3,600 men in charge of the people to keep them working.

Solomon Builds the Temple

3 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord. He built it on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. That’s where the Lord had appeared to Solomon’s father David. The Lord had appeared at the threshing floor of Araunah. Araunah was from Jebus. David had provided the threshing floor. ² Solomon began building the temple on the second day of the second month. It was in the fourth year of his rule.

³ Solomon laid the foundation for God’s temple. It was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. Solomon’s men followed the standard measure used at that time. ⁴ The porch in front of the temple was 30 feet across and 30 feet high.

Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold. ⁵ He covered the inside of the main hall with juniper boards. Then he covered the boards with fine gold. He decorated the hall with palm tree patterns and chain patterns. ⁶ He decorated the temple with valuable jewels. The gold he used came from Parvaim. ⁷ He covered the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold. He carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ He built the Most Holy Room. It was as long as the temple was wide. It was 30 feet long and 30 feet wide. He covered the inside of the Most Holy Room with 23 tons of fine gold. ⁹ He also covered the upper parts with gold. The gold on the nails weighed 20 ounces.

¹⁰ For the Most Holy Room, Solomon made a pair of carved cherubim. He covered them with gold. ¹¹ The total length of the cherubim’s wings from tip to tip was 30 feet. One wing of the first cherub was seven and a half feet long. Its tip touched the temple wall. The other wing was also seven and a half feet long. Its tip touched the wing tip of the other cherub. ¹² In the same way one wing of the second cherub was seven and a half feet long. Its tip touched the other temple wall. The other wing was also seven and a half feet long. Its tip touched the wing tip of the first cherub. ¹³ So the total length of the wings of the two cherubim was 30 feet from tip to tip. The cherubim stood facing the main hall.

¹⁴ Solomon made the curtain out of blue, purple and bright red yarn and fine linen. A skilled worker sewed cherubim into its pattern.

¹⁵ For the front of the temple, Solomon made two pillars. Each pillar was 26 feet tall. Each had a decorated top seven and a half feet high. ¹⁶ Solomon made chains that were linked together. He put them on top of the pillars. He also made 100 pomegranates. He fastened them to the chains. ¹⁷ Solomon set the pillars up in front of the temple. One was on the south. The other was on the north. He named the one on the south Jakin. The one on the north he named Boaz.