1 Kings 4

Solomon's Officials

¹King Solomon was king over all Israel, ²and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was bthe priest; ³Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; cJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ⁴dBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; eZadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵Azariah the son of Nathan was over fthe officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and gking's friend; ⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and hAdoniram the son of Abda was in charge of ithe forced labor.

⁷Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. ⁸These were their names: Ben-hur, in jthe hill country of Ephraim; ⁹Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; ¹⁰Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹Ben-abinadab, in all kNaphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹²Baana the son of Ahilud, in lTaanach, Megiddo, and all lBeth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; ¹³Ben-geber, min Ramoth-gilead (he had nthe villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had othe region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); ¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹⁶Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸pShimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, qthe country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.

Solomon's Wealth and Wisdom

²⁰Judah and Israel were as many ras the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. ²¹1 sSolomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the tEuphrates2 to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. uThey brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²²Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors3 of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, ²³ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates4 from Tiphsah to vGaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. wAnd he had peace on all sides around him. ²⁵And Judah and Israel xlived in safety, yfrom Dan even to Beersheba, zevery man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶aSolomon also had 40,0005 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. ²⁷And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. ²⁸Barley also and straw for the horses and bswift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

²⁹cAnd God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind dlike the sand on the seashore, ³⁰so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ethe people of the east fand all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹For he was cwiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ³²gHe also spoke 3,000 proverbs, hand his songs were 1,005. ³³He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. ³⁴And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from iall the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

1 Kings 5

Preparations for Building the Temple

¹1 Now jHiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, kfor Hiram always loved David. ²And Solomon sent word to Hiram, ³l“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God mbecause of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴nBut now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. ⁵And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, oas the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ ⁶Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” ⁸And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. ⁹My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes pby providing food for my household.” ¹⁰So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, ¹¹while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors2 of wheat as food for his household, and 20,0003 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. ¹²And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, qas he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

¹³King Solomon drafted rforced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. sAdoniram was in charge of the draft. ¹⁵Solomon also thad 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, ¹⁶besides Solomon's 3,300 uchief officers who were over the work, vwho had charge of the people who carried on the work. ¹⁷At the king's command wthey quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. ¹⁸So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and xthe men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

By Grace Through Faith

¹jAnd you were kdead in the trespasses and sins ²lin which you once walked, following the course of this world, following mthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in nthe sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in othe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and pwere by nature qchildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 ⁴But3 God, being rrich in mercy, sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even twhen we were dead in our trespasses, umade us alive together with Christ—vby grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and wseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable xriches of his grace in ykindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For zby grace you have been saved athrough faith. And this is bnot your own doing; cit is the gift of God, ⁹dnot a result of works, eso that no one may boast. ¹⁰For fwe are his workmanship, gcreated in Christ Jesus hfor good works, iwhich God prepared beforehand, jthat we should walk in them.

One in Christ

¹¹Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called kthe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹²remember lthat you were at that time separated from Christ, malienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to nthe covenants of promise, ohaving no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were pfar off have been brought near qby the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For rhe himself is our peace, swho has made us both one and has broken down tin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in uordinances, that he might create in himself one vnew man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might wreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷And he came and xpreached peace to you who were yfar off and peace to those who were znear. ¹⁸For athrough him we both have baccess in cone Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer dstrangers and aliens,4 but you are efellow citizens with the saints and fmembers of the household of God, ²⁰gbuilt on the foundation of the hapostles and prophets, iChrist Jesus himself being jthe cornerstone, ²¹kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord. ²²In him myou also are being built together ninto a dwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.

Prophecy Against Mount Seir

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²f“Son of man, gset your face hagainst iMount Seir, and prophesy against it, ³and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: jBehold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and kI will stretch out my hand against you, land I will make you a desolation and a waste. ⁴mI will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁵Because nyou cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword oat the time of their calamity, pat the time of their final punishment, ⁶therefore, qas I live, declares the Lord God, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; rbecause you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you. ⁷lI will make Mount Seir a waste mand a desolation, and I will cut off from it sall who come and go. ⁸And I will fill tits mountains with the slain. On your hills and in your valleys and in all tyour ravines uthose slain with the sword shall fall. ⁹lI will make you a perpetual desolation, and myour cities shall not be inhabited. Then vyou will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰“Because you said, w‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and xwe will take possession of them’—although the yLord was there— ¹¹therefore, qas I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal with you zaccording to the anger and zenvy that you showed because of your hatred against them. And aI will make myself known among them, when I judge you. ¹²And you shall know that I am the Lord.

b“I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate; cthey are given us to devour.’ ¹³And byou magnified yourselves against me dwith your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. ¹⁴Thus says the Lord God: eWhile the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. ¹⁵As you frejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, gMount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then hthey will know that I am the Lord.

Revive Us Again

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of nthe Sons of Korah.

¹Lord, you were ofavorable to your land;

you prestored the fortunes of Jacob.

²You qforgave the iniquity of your people;

you qcovered all their sin. Selah

³You withdrew all your wrath;

you rturned from your hot anger.

⁴sRestore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

⁵tWill you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

⁶Will you not urevive us again,

that your people may vrejoice in you?

⁷Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

and grant us your salvation.

⁸wLet me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will xspeak peace to his people, to his ysaints;

but let them not zturn back to afolly.

⁹Surely his bsalvation is near to those who fear him,

that cglory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰dSteadfast love and faithfulness meet;

erighteousness and peace kiss each other.

¹¹Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

¹²Yes, fthe Lord will give what is good,

and our land gwill yield its increase.

¹³hRighteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.