When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. Jeroboam returned from Egypt.

“Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin,

They supported ¹  the kingdom of Judah and were loyal to ²  Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years; they followed the edicts of ³  David and Solomon for three years.

There was a great celebration in Jerusalem, unlike anything that had occurred in Jerusalem since the time of King Solomon son of David of Israel. ¹ 

Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, ¹  and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings. ² 

Solomon and the entire assembly went to the worship center ¹  in Gibeon, for the tent where they met God ²  was located there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness.

Solomon accumulated ¹  chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. ² 

(2:1) Solomon had ¹  70,000 common laborers ²  and 80,000 stonecutters ³  in the hills, in addition to 3,600 supervisors. ⁴ 

Solomon sent a message to King Huram ¹  of Tyre: ²  “Help me ³  as you did my father David, when you sent him cedar logs ⁴  for the construction of his palace. ⁵ 

Solomon took a census ¹  of all the male resident foreigners in the land of Israel, after the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 in all.

Solomon began building the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem ¹  on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan ²  the Jebusite.

Huram Abi ¹  made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. ² 

Then Solomon convened Israel’s elders – all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families – in Jerusalem, ¹  so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David ²  (that is, Zion). ³ 

Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet ¹  long, seven and one-half feet ²  wide, and four and one-half feet ³  high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky,

King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple.

At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south. ¹ 

and built up Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to him, ¹  and all the cities where chariots and horses were kept. ²  He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, ³  Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom. ⁴ 

Solomon moved Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David ¹  to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

She gave the king 120 talents ¹  of gold and a very large quantity of spices and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched. ² 

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, more than what she had brought him. ¹  Then she left and returned ²  to her homeland with her attendants.