Book of 2 Kings

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="1KI.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Officials and Governors</div><div class="p"> 1So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 2And these were his chief officials:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1">Azariah son of Zadok&#8212;the priest;</div><div class="li1"> 3Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha&#8212;secretaries;</div><div class="li1">Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud&#8212;recorder;</div><div class="li1"> 4Benaiah son of Jehoiada&#8212;commander in chief;</div><div class="li1">Zadok and Abiathar&#8212;priests;</div><div class="li1"> 5Azariah son of Nathan&#8212;in charge of the district governors;</div><div class="li1">Zabud son of Nathan&#8212;a priest and adviser to the king;</div><div class="li1"> 6Ahishar&#8212;palace administrator;</div><div class="li1">Adoniram son of Abda&#8212;in charge of forced labor.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 7Solomon had twelve district governors over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. 8These are their names:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1">Ben-Hur&#8212;in the hill country of Ephraim;</div><div class="li1"> 9Ben-Deker&#8212;in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh and Elon Bethhanan;</div><div class="li1"> 10Ben-Hesed&#8212;in Arubboth (Sokoh and all the land of Hepher were his);</div><div class="li1"> 11Ben-Abinadab&#8212;in Naphoth Dor (he was married to Taphath daughter of Solomon);</div><div class="li1"> 12Baana son of Ahilud&#8212;in Taanach and Megiddo, and in all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah across to Jokmeam;</div><div class="li1"> 13Ben-Geber&#8212;in Ramoth Gilead (the settlements of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead were his, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan and its sixty large walled cities with bronze gate bars);</div><div class="li1"> 14Ahinadab son of Iddo&#8212;in Mahanaim;</div><div class="li1"> 15Ahimaaz&#8212;in Naphtali (he had married Basemath daughter of Solomon);</div><div class="li1"> 16Baana son of Hushai&#8212;in Asher and in Aloth;</div><div class="li1"> 17Jehoshaphat son of Paruah&#8212;in Issachar;</div><div class="li1"> 18Shimei son of Ela&#8212;in Benjamin;</div><div class="li1"> 19Geber son of Uri&#8212;in Gilead (the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and the country of Og king of Bashan). He was the only governor over the district.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Daily Provisions</div><div class="p"> 20The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. 21And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon&#8217;s subjects all his life.</div><div class="p"> 22Solomon&#8217;s daily provisions were thirty cors#4:22 That is, probably about 5 1/2 tons or about 5 metric tons of the finest flour and sixty cors#4:22 That is, probably about 11 tons or about 10 metric tons of meal, 23ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl. 24For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides. 25During Solomon&#8217;s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.</div><div class="p"> 26Solomon had four#4:26 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 9:25); Hebrew forty thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses.#4:26 Or charioteers</div><div class="p"> 27The district governors, each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king&#8217;s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. 28They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Wisdom</div><div class="p"> 29God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 30Solomon&#8217;s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite&#8212;wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. 32He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. 34From all nations people came to listen to Solomon&#8217;s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.#4:34 In Hebrew texts 4:21-34 is numbered 5:1-14.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="1KI.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">Preparations for Building the Temple</div><div class="p"> # In Hebrew texts 5:1-18 is numbered 5:15-32. 1When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:</div><div class="pm"> 3&#8220;You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. 4But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 5I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, &#8216;Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 6&#8220;So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7When Hiram heard Solomon&#8217;s message, he was greatly pleased and said, &#8220;Praise be to the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8So Hiram sent word to Solomon:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors#5:11 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,250 metric tons of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths#5:11 Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 2:10); Hebrew twenty cors#5:11 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.</div><div class="p"> 13King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel&#8212;thirty thousand men. 14He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16as well as thirty-three hundred#5:16 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 2:2,18) thirty-six hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17At the king&#8217;s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="1KI.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">Solomon Builds the Temple</div><div class="p"> 1In the four hundred and eightieth#6:1 Hebrew; Septuagint four hundred and fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon&#8217;s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 2The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.#6:2 That is, about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 27 meters long, 9 meters wide and 14 meters high 3The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,#6:3 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 16 and 20 and projected ten cubits#6:3 That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verses 23-26 from the front of the temple. 4He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. 5Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 6The lowest floor was five cubits#6:6 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verses 10 and 24 wide, the middle floor six cubits#6:6 That is, about 9 feet or about 2.7 meters and the third floor seven.#6:6 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.</div><div class="p"> 7In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.</div><div class="p"> 8The entrance to the lowest#6:8 Septuagint; Hebrew middle floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. 9So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. 10And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.</div><div class="p"> 11The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 12&#8220;As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. 13And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 15He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. 16He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 17The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits#6:17 That is, about 60 feet or about 18 meters long. 18The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.</div><div class="p"> 19He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. 21Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.</div><div class="p"> 23For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits&#8212;ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28He overlaid the cherubim with gold.</div><div class="p"> 29On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. 30He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.</div><div class="p"> 31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. 32And on the two olive-wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. 34He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.</div><div class="p"> 36And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.</div><div class="p"> 37The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. 38In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.</div>
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New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPSA">
 <div class="chapter ch31" data-usfm="PSA.31.24">
 <div class="q1">24Be strong and take heart,</div><div class="q2">all you who hope in the Lord.</div>
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