Study Desk

David also gave Solomon his plans for dividing the priests and the Levites into groups, as well as for the work that needed to be done at the temple and for taking care of the objects used for worship.

David then said to Solomon: The Lord showed me how his temple is to be built.

and to make the gold and silver objects. Now, who else will show their dedication to the Lord by giving gifts for building his temple?

So Solomon became king after David his father. Solomon was successful, and everyone in Israel obeyed him.

David was rich and respected and lived to be an old man. Then he died, and his son Solomon became king.

They wrote about his powerful rule and about the things that happened not only to him, but also to Israel and the other nations.

King Solomon, the son of David, was now in complete control of his kingdom, because the Lord God had blessed him and made him a powerful king.

At that time, the sacred tent that Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the desert was still kept at Gibeon, and in front of the tent was the bronze altar that Bezalel had made. One day, Solomon told the people of Israel, the army commanders, the officials, and the family leaders, to go with him to the place of worship at Gibeon, even though his father King David had already moved the sacred chest from Kiriath-Jearim to the tent that he had set up for it in Jerusalem. Solomon and the others went to Gibeon to worship the Lord ,

Solomon's merchants bought his horses and chariots in the regions of Musri and Kue. They paid about fifteen pounds of silver for a chariot and almost four pounds of silver for a horse. They also sold horses and chariots to the Hittite and Syrian kings.

Solomon sent the following message to King Hiram of Tyre: Years ago, when my father David was building his palace, you supplied him with cedar logs. Now will you send me supplies?

Hiram sent his answer back to Solomon: I know that the Lord must love his people, because he has chosen you to be their king.

His mother was from the Israelite tribe of Dan, and his father was from Tyre. Not only is Huram an expert at working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, but he can also make colored cloth and fine linen. And he can carve anything if you give him a pattern to follow. He can help your workers and those hired by your father King David.

Solomon counted all the foreigners who were living in Israel, just as his father David had done when he was king, and the total was 153,600.

After the Lord 's temple was finished, Solomon put in its storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to the Lord , including the gold and silver, and the objects used in worship.

The only things kept in the chest were the two flat stones Moses had put there when the Lord made his agreement with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, after bringing them out of Egypt.

The priests of every group had gone through the ceremony to make themselves clean and acceptable to the Lord . The Levite musicians, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, were wearing robes of fine linen. They were standing on the east side of the altar, playing cymbals, small harps, and other stringed instruments. One hundred twenty priests were with these musicians, and they were blowing trumpets. They were praising the Lord by playing music and singing: "The Lord is good, and his love never ends." Suddenly a cloud filled the temple as the priests were leaving the holy place.

and said: Praise the Lord God of Israel! He brought his people out of Egypt long ago and later kept his promise to make my father David the king of Israel. The Lord also promised him that Jerusalem would be the city where his temple will be built, and now that promise has come true.

Earlier, Solomon had a bronze platform made that was about eight feet square and five feet high, and he put it in the center of the outer courtyard near the altar. Solomon stood on the platform facing the altar with everyone standing behind him. Then he lifted his arms toward heaven; he knelt down

You promised that someone from his family would always be king of Israel, if they do their best to obey you, just as he did.

When the crowd of people saw the fire and the Lord 's glory, they knelt down and worshiped the Lord . They prayed: "The Lord is good, and his love never ends."