2 Chronicles 1-4

New King James Version

Solomon Requests Wisdom^(A)

1 Now ^(B)Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and ^(C)the Lord his God was with him and ^(D)exalted him exceedingly.

² And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to ^(E)the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses. ³ Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to ^[a]the high place that was at ^(F)Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had ^(G)made in the wilderness. ^4 (H)But David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. ⁵ Now ^(I)the bronze altar that ^(J)Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, ^[b]he put before the tabernacle of the Lord; Solomon and the assembly sought Him there. ⁶ And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and ^(K)offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

^7 (L)On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

⁸ And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great ^(M)mercy to David my father, and have made me ^(N)king in his place. ⁹ Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, ^(O)for You have made me king over a people like the ^(P)dust of the earth in multitude. ^10 (Q)Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may ^(R)go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

^11 (S)Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— ¹² wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as ^(T)none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”

Solomon’s Military and Economic Power^(U)

¹³ So Solomon came to Jerusalem from ^[c]the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel. ^14 (V)And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^15 (W)Also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. ^16 (X)And Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. ¹⁷ They also acquired and imported from Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty; thus, ^[d]through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple^(Y)

2 Then Solomon ^(Z)determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. ^2 (AA)Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

³ Then Solomon sent to ^[e]Hiram king of Tyre, saying:

¹¹ Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon:

^12 [i]Hiram also said:

^17 (AS)Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which ^(AT)David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸ And he made ^(AU)seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(AV)

3 Now ^(AW)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at ^(AX)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where ^[m]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of ^(AY)Ornan^[n] the Jebusite. ² And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

³ This is the foundation ^(AZ)which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. ⁴ And the ^(BA)vestibule that was in front of ^[o]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was ^[p]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. ^5 (BB)The larger ^[q]room he ^(BC)paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. ⁶ And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. ⁷ He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ And he made the ^(BD)Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. ⁹ The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper ^(BE)area with gold. ^10 (BF)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; ¹² one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. ¹⁴ And he made the ^(BG)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

¹⁵ Also he made in front of the ^[r]temple ^(BH)two pillars ^[s]thirty-five cubits ^[t]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. ¹⁶ He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made ^(BI)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. ¹⁷ Then he ^(BJ)set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand ^[u]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left ^[v]Boaz.

Furnishings of the Temple^(BK)

4 Moreover he made ^(BL)a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

^2 (BM)Then he made the ^[w]Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. ^3 (BN)And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast. ⁴ It stood on twelve ^(BO)oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. ⁵ It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained ^[x]three thousand baths.

⁶ He also made ^(BP)ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the ^[y]Sea was for the ^(BQ)priests to wash in. ^7 (BR)And he made ten lampstands of gold ^(BS)according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ^8 (BT)He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred ^(BU)bowls of gold.

⁹ Furthermore ^(BV)he made the court of the priests, and the ^(BW)great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze. ^10 (BX)He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.

¹¹ Then ^(BY)Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God: ¹² the two pillars and ^(BZ)the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars; ^13 (CA)four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars); ¹⁴ he also made ^(CB)carts and the lavers on the carts; ¹⁵ one Sea and twelve oxen under it; ¹⁶ also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles ^(CC)Huram his ^[z]master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

¹⁷ In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and ^[aa]Zeredah. ^18 (CD)And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

¹⁹ Thus ^(CE)Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was ^(CF)the showbread; ²⁰ the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn ^(CG)in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary, ²¹ with ^(CH)the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold; ²² the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the ^[ab]sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.