Study Desk

At that time, there was no temple for worshiping the Lord , and everyone offered sacrifices at the local shrines.

One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the Lord God appeared to him in a dream and said, "Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you."

God said: Solomon, I'm pleased that you asked for this. You could have asked to live a long time or to be rich. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom to make right decisions.

I'll also give you what you didn't ask for. You'll be rich and respected as long as you live, and you'll be greater than any other king.

Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. He went back to Jerusalem and stood in front of the sacred chest, where he offered sacrifices to please the Lord and sacrifices to ask his blessing. Then Solomon gave a feast for his officials.

Solomon chose twelve regional officers, who took turns bringing food for him and his household. Each officer provided food from his region for one month of the year.

Each of the twelve regional officers brought food to Solomon and his household for one month of the year. They provided everything he needed,

as well as barley and straw for the horses.

The Lord God promised my father that when his son became king, he would build a temple for worshiping the Lord . So I've decided to do that.

I'd like you to have your workers cut down cedar trees in Lebanon for me. I will pay them whatever you say and will even have my workers help them. We both know that your workers are more experienced than anyone else at cutting lumber.

My workers will carry them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. They will tie the logs together and float them along the coast to wherever you want them. Then they will untie the logs, and your workers can take them from there. To pay for the logs, you can provide the grain I need for my household.

Solomon ordered thirty thousand people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple,

He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.

Solomon's and Hiram's men worked with men from the city of Gebal, and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple.

The section of the palace where Solomon lived was behind Justice Hall and looked exactly like it. He had a similar place built for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

Hiram was a skilled bronze worker from the city of Tyre. His father was now dead, but he also had been a bronze worker from Tyre, and his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. King Solomon asked Hiram to come to Jerusalem and make the bronze furnishings to use for worship in the Lord 's temple, and he agreed to do it.

For the top of each column, he also made a bronze cap seven and a half feet high.

The caps for the columns of the porch were six feet high and were shaped like lilies.

Hiram also made ten small bronze bowls, one for each stand. The bowls were six feet across and could hold about two hundred thirty gallons.

Hiram made pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls. This is a list of the bronze items that Hiram made for the Lord 's temple: