Study Desk

So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to [King] Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought them back from Gath.

So the king sent word and called for Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the LORD and solemnly warn you, saying, 'Know for certain that on the day you leave [Jerusalem] and go anywhere, you shall surely die'? And you said to me, 'The word (ruling) I have heard is good.'

The king also said to Shimei, "You are aware in your own heart of all the evil you did to my father David; so the LORD shall return your evil on your own head.

So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck down Shimei, and he died. So the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.

"So now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of David my father; and as for me, I am but a little boy [in wisdom and experience]; I do not know how to go out or come in [that is, how to conduct business as a king].

"So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?"

behold, I have done as you asked. I have given you a wise and discerning heart (mind), so that no one before you was your equal, nor shall anyone equal to you arise after you.

"I have also given you what you have not asked, both wealth and honor, so that there will not be anyone equal to you among the kings, for all your days.

"So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from [his place] beside me while your maidservant was asleep, and laid him on her bosom, and laid her dead son on my bosom.

Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword before the king.

"So now, command that they cut cedar trees from Lebanon for me, and my servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the men of Sidon."

So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, "I have heard the message which you sent to me; I will do everything you wish concerning the cedar and cypress timber.

So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress timber he desired,

So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men of Gebal cut and chiseled the stones, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (temple).

The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made offsets (niches) in the walls all around on the outside of the house so that the supporting beams would not be inserted into the walls of the house.

So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it, and roofed the house with beams and boards of cedar.

So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it.

He put the cherubim [above the ark] inside the innermost room of the house, and their wings were spread out so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall; and their inner wings were touching each other in the middle of the house.

So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers; and overlaid them with gold; and he hammered out overlays of gold on the cherubim and palm decorations.

In the eleventh year [of King Solomon's reign] in the month of Bul (October-November), that is, the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and in accordance with all its specifications. So he built it in seven years.