Study Desk

Then Solomon said:^(a) The Lord said He would dwell in thick darkness,^(b)

but I have built an exalted temple for You, a place for Your residence forever.

Then the king turned and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing.

He said: May the Lord God of Israel be praised! He spoke directly to my father David, and He has fulfilled the promise by His power. He said,

"Since the day I brought My people Israel out of the land of Egypt,^(c) I have not chosen a city to build a temple in among any of the tribes of Israel, so that My name would be there, and I have not chosen a man to be ruler over My people Israel.

But I have chosen Jerusalem so that My name will be there,^(d) and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel."^(e)

Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.^(f)

However, Yahweh said to my father David, "Since it was your desire to build a temple for My name, you have done well to have this desire.

Yet, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own offspring, will build the temple for My name."

So Yahweh has fulfilled what He promised. I have taken the place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised. I have built the temple for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

I have put the ark there, where Yahweh's covenant is that He made with the Israelites.^(g)

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands.

For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet^[a] long, 7½ feet^[b] wide, and 4½ feet^[c] high and put it in the court. He stood on it,^(h) knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.⁽ⁱ⁾

He said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth,^(j) keeping His gracious covenant with Your servants who walk before You with their whole heart.^(k)

You have kept what You promised to Your servant, my father David. You spoke directly to him, and You fulfilled Your promise by Your power, as it is today.^(l)

Therefore, Lord God of Israel, keep what You promised to Your servant, my father David: "You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel,^(m) if only your sons guard their way to walk in My Law as you have walked before Me."

Now, Lord God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant David.

But will God indeed live on earth with man? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You,⁽ⁿ⁾ much less this temple I have built.

Listen^[d] to Your servant's prayer and his petition, Lord my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant prays before You,

so that Your eyes watch over this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name;^(o) and so that You may hear the prayer Your servant prays toward this place.

Hear the petitions of Your servant and Your people Israel, which they pray toward this place. May You hear in Your dwelling place in heaven. May You hear and forgive.

If a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath^[e] and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

may You hear in heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing what he has done on his own head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and praise Your name, and they pray and plead for mercy before You in this temple,

may You hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave them and their ancestors.

When the skies are shut and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and they turn from their sins because You are afflicting^[f](p) them,

may You hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way they should walk in. May You send rain on Your land that You gave Your people for an inheritance.

When there is famine on the earth, when there is pestilence, when there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper, when their enemies besiege them in the region of their fortified cities,^[g](q) when there is any plague or illness,

whatever prayer or petition anyone from your people Israel might have— each man knowing his own affliction^[h] and suffering, and spreading out his hands toward this temple—

may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and may You forgive and repay the man according to all his ways, since You know his heart, for You alone know the human heart,^(r)

so that they may fear You and walk in Your ways all the days they live on the land You gave our ancestors.

Even for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your great name and Your mighty hand and outstretched arm:^(s) when he comes and prays toward this temple,

may You hear in heaven in Your dwelling place, and do all the foreigner asks You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name, to fear You as Your people Israel do and know that this temple I have built is called by Your name.^(t)

When Your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever You send them, and they pray to You in the direction of this city You have chosen^(u) and the temple that I have built for Your name,

may You hear their prayer and petition in heaven and uphold their cause.

When they sin against You— for there is no one who does not sin^(v)— and You are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their captors deport them to a distant or nearby country,

and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition You in their captors' land, saying: "We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,"

and when they return to You with their whole mind and heart in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive, and when they pray in the direction of their land that You gave their ancestors, and the city You have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for Your name,

may You hear their prayer and petitions in heaven, Your dwelling place, and uphold their cause.^[i] May You forgive Your people who sinned against You.

Now, my God, please let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.^(w)

Now therefore:^(x) Arise, Lord God, come to Your resting place, You and Your powerful ark. May Your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and may Your godly people rejoice in goodness.

Lord God, do not reject Your anointed one;^[j] remember the loyalty of Your servant David.^(y)

When Solomon finished praying,^(a) fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices,^(b) and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

The priests were not able to enter the Lord 's temple because the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord .

All the Israelites were watching when the fire descended and the glory of the Lord came on the temple. They bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and praised the Lord : For He is good, for His faithful love endures forever.^(c)

The king and all the people were offering sacrifices in the Lord 's presence.^(d)

King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. In this manner the king and all the people dedicated God's temple.

The priests and the Levites were standing at their stations. The Levites had the musical instruments of the Lord , which King David had made to praise the Lord —"for His faithful love endures forever"—when he offered praise with them.^(e) Across from the Levites, the priests were blowing trumpets, and all the people were standing.

Since the bronze altar that Solomon had made^(f) could not accommodate the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, Solomon first consecrated the middle of the courtyard^(g) that was in front of the Lord 's temple and then offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there.^(h)

So Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly, from the entrance to Hamath^[a] to the Brook of Egypt—observed the festival at that time for seven days.

On the eighth day^[b] they held a sacred assembly,⁽ⁱ⁾ for the dedication of the altar lasted seven days and the festival seven days.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, rejoicing and with happy hearts for the goodness the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel.

So Solomon finished the Lord 's temple and the royal palace. Everything that had entered Solomon's heart to do for the Lord 's temple and for his own palace succeeded.^(j)

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a temple of sacrifice.^(k)

If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on My people,^(l)

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.^(m)

My eyes will now be open and My ears attentive to prayer from this place.⁽ⁿ⁾

And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My name may be there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there at all times.^(o)

As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

I will establish your royal throne, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man ruling in Israel.^(p)

However, if you turn away and abandon My statutes and My commands that I have set before you and if you go and serve other gods and worship them,^(q)

then I will uproot Israel from the soil that I gave them, and this temple that I have sanctified for My name I will banish from My presence;^(r) I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.^(s)

As for this temple, which was exalted, everyone who passes by will be appalled and will say:^(t) Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?

Then they will say: Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and worshiped and served them. Because of this, He brought all this ruin on them.

At the end of 20 years^(a) during which Solomon had built the Lord 's temple and his own palace—

Solomon had rebuilt the cities Hiram^[a] gave him and settled Israelites there—

Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and seized it.

He built Tadmor in the wilderness along with all the storage cities that he built in Hamath.

He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon^(b)—fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars^(c)—

Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, all the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and everything Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

As for all the peoples who remained of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not from Israel^(d)—

their descendants who remained in the land after them, those the Israelites had not completely destroyed—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is this way today.^(e)

But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to be slaves for his work; they were soldiers, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.

These were King Solomon's deputies: 250 who ruled over the people.

Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house he had built for her,^(f) for he said, "My wife must not live in the house^[b] of David king of Israel because the places the ark of the Lord has come into are holy."

At that time^(g) Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord 's altar he had made in front of the portico.^(h)

He followed the daily requirement⁽ⁱ⁾ for offerings according to the commandment of Moses^(j) for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths.^(k)

According to the ordinances of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests over their service,^(l) of the Levites over their responsibilities to offer praise and to minister before the priests following the daily requirement,^(m) and of the gatekeepers by their divisions with respect to each gate,⁽ⁿ⁾ for this had been the command of David, the man of God.^(o)

They did not turn aside from the king's command regarding the priests and the Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries.^(p)

All of Solomon's work was carried out from the day the foundation was laid for the Lord 's temple until it was finished. So the Lord 's temple was completed.

At that time^(q) Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth^(r) on the seashore in the land of Edom.

So Hiram^[c] sent ships to him by his servants along with crews of experienced seamen. They went with Solomon's servants to Ophir, took from there 17 tons^[d] of gold, and delivered it to King Solomon.^(s)

The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame,^(a) so she came to test Solomon with difficult questions at Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her mind.

So Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for Solomon to explain to her.

When the queen of Sheba observed Solomon's wisdom, the palace he had built,

the food at his table, his servants' residence, his attendants' service and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord 's temple, it took her breath away.

She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your words and about your wisdom is true.

But I didn't believe their reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, I was not even told half of your great wisdom! You far exceed the report I heard.

How happy are your men.^[a](b) How happy are these servants of yours, who always stand in your presence hearing your wisdom.

May the Lord your God be praised! He delighted in you and put you on His throne as king for the Lord your God.^(c) Because Your God loved Israel enough to establish them forever, He has set you over them as king to carry out justice and righteousness."^(d)

Then she gave the king four and a half tons^[b] of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There never were such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

In addition, Hiram's servants and Solomon's servants who brought gold from Ophir^(e) also brought algum wood and precious stones.

The king made the algum wood into walkways for the Lord 's temple and for the king's palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire, whatever she asked—far more than she had brought the king. Then she, along with her servants, returned to her own country.

The weight of gold that came to Solomon^(f) annually was 25 tons,^[c]

besides what was brought by the merchants and traders. All the Arabian kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; 15 pounds^[d] of hammered gold went into each shield.

He made 300 small shields of hammered gold; about eight pounds^[e] of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.^(g)

The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold.

The throne had six steps; there was a footstool covered in gold for the throne, armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.

Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.

All of King Solomon's drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, since it was considered as nothing in Solomon's time,

for the king's ships kept going to Tarshish^(h) with Hiram's servants, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^[f]

King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the world in riches and wisdom.⁽ⁱ⁾

All the kings of the world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

Each of them would bring his own gift—items^[g] of silver and gold, clothing, weapons,^[h][i] spices, and horses and mules—as an annual tribute.

Solomon^(j) had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.^(k) He stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far as the border of Egypt.^(l)

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills.

They were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all the countries.

The remaining events^(m) of Solomon's reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Events of Nathan the Prophet, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Visions of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat.⁽ⁿ⁾

Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years.

Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David.^(o) His son Rehoboam became king in his place.

Then Rehoboam went to Shechem,^(a) for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it—for he was in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon's presence—Jeroboam returned from Egypt.^(b)

So they summoned him. Then Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam:

"Your father made our yoke difficult. Therefore, lighten your father's harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."

Rehoboam replied, "Return to me in three days." So the people left.

Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, "How do you advise me to respond to these people?"

They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever."

But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him, and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, the ones serving him.

He asked them, "What message do you advise we send back to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"

Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, "This is what you should say to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!' This is what you should say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's loins.^[a]

Now therefore, my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I, with barbed whips.'"^[b]

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered, saying, "Return to me on the third day."

Then the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the elders' advice

and spoke to them according to the young men's advice, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy,^[c](c) but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I, with barbed whips."^[d]

The king did not listen to the people because the turn of events came from God,^(d) in order that the Lord might carry out His word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.^(e)

When^(f) all Israel saw^[e](g) that the king had not listened to them, the people answered the king: What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Israel, each man to your tent; David, look after your own house now! So all Israel went to their tents.

But as for the Israelites living in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram,^[f](h) who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. However, King Rehoboam managed to get into his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

Israel is in rebellion against the house of David until today.