He carried away to Babylon all the items in God’s temple, whether large or small, as well as what was in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king and his officials.

They burned down the Lord’s temple and tore down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all its fortified buildings and destroyed all its valuable items.

When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the Levites lifted the ark.

The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord.

King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.

Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years.

When the sacrifices were completed, the king and all who were with him bowed down and worshiped.

The proposal seemed appropriate to the king and the entire assembly.

When all this was over, the Israelites who were in the cities of Judah went out and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and demolished all the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Then all the Israelites returned to their own homes in their cities.

The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.

They went to King Hezekiah and said: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, including the altar of burnt sacrifice and all its equipment, and the table for the Bread of the Presence and all its equipment.

As for the descendants of Aaron, the priests who lived in the outskirts of all their cities, men were assigned to disburse portions to every male among the priests and to every Levite listed in the genealogical records.

The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the Levites. All the people were there, from the oldest to the youngest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple.

I will build a great temple, for our God is greater than all gods.

Solomon made so many of these items they did not weigh the bronze.

All the men of Israel assembled before the king during the festival in the seventh month.

He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

He built up Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities he had built in Hamath.

They did not neglect any detail of the king’s orders pertaining to the priests, Levites, and treasuries.

He ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines as far as the border of Egypt.