I grant your request, and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you.

I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.”

Geber son of Uri was in charge of the land of Gilead (the territory which had once belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites and to King Og of Bashan). He was sole governor of the area.

Each one also brought to the assigned location his quota of barley and straw for the various horses.

God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding was as infinite as the sand on the seashore.

People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom.

besides 3,300 officials who supervised the workers.

The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

He plated the entire inside of the temple with gold, as well as the altar inside the inner sanctuary.

The roof above the beams supported by the pillars was also made of cedar; there were forty-five beams, fifteen per row.

He also made a throne room, called “The Hall of Judgment,” where he made judicial decisions. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters.

The latticework on the tops of the pillars was adorned with ornamental wreaths and chains; the top of each pillar had seven groupings of ornaments.

On the top of each pillar, right above the bulge beside the latticework, there were two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments arranged in rows all the way around.

On these frames and joints were ornamental lions, bulls, and cherubs. Under the lions and bulls were decorative wreaths.

The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the tent.

He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David.

The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.

“God does not really live on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built!

But respond favorably to your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you today.

“When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false.