King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, “May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life!

The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place.

If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.”

The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.

Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the Lord by following the practices of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David’s place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced.

If you follow my instructions by obeying my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, then I will grant you long life.”

She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms.

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.”

The king responded, “Give the first woman the living child; don’t kill him. She is the mother.”

He built an extension all around the walls of the temple’s main hall and holy place and constructed side rooms in it.

He built a wall 30 feet in from the rear of the temple as a partition for an inner sanctuary that would be the most holy place. He paneled the wall with cedar planks from the floor to the rafters.

Solomon plated the inside of the temple with gold. He hung golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary and plated the inner sanctuary with gold.

Under the rim all the way around it were round ornaments arranged in settings 15 feet long. The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.”

He also made ten bronze movable stands. Each stand was six feet long, six feet wide, and four-and-a-half feet high.

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

The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs.

The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the Lord’s glory filled his temple.

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

You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.