One night in Gibeon the <sc>Lordsc> appeared<n id="1" /> to Solomon in a dream. God said, &#8220;Tell<n id="2" /> me what I should give you.&#8221;

Now, O <sc>Lordsc> my God, you have made your servant king in my father David&#8217;s place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced.<n id="1" />

So the <sc>Lordsc> gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. And Hiram and Solomon were at peace and made a treaty.<n id="1" />p>

The temple King Solomon built for the <sc>Lordsc> was 90 feet<n id="1" /> long, 30 feet<n id="2" /> wide, and 45 feet<n id="3" /> high.

Around the great courtyard were three rows of chiseled stones and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and the hall of the palace.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Solomon also made all these items for the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence,<n id="1" />

The priests and Levites carried the ark of the <sc>Lordsc>, the tent of meeting,<n id="1" /> and all the holy items in the tent.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">The priests brought the ark of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s covenant to its assigned<n id="1" /> place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs.

He said, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled<n id="1" /> what he promised<n id="2" /> my father David.

The <sc>Lordsc> told my father David, &#8216;It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.<n id="1" />

and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the <sc>Lordsc> made with our ancestors<n id="1" /> when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.&#8221;p>

But respond favorably to<n id="1" /> your servant&#8217;s prayer and his request for help, O <sc>Lordsc> my God. Answer<n id="2" /> the desperate prayer<n id="3" /> your servant is presenting to you<n id="4" /> today.

<t /><p class="bodytext">After Solomon finished building the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, the royal palace, and all the other construction projects he had planned,<n id="1" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">After twenty years, during which Solomon built the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and the royal palace,<n id="1" />

the food in his banquet hall,<n id="1" /> his servants and attendants,<n id="2" /> their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, she was amazed.<n id="3" />

and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods.<n id="1" /> But he did not obey<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s command.

Just then<n id="1" /> a prophet<n id="2" /> from Judah, sent by the <sc>Lordsc>, arrived in Bethel,<n id="3" /> as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice.

That day he also announced<n id="1" /> a sign, &#8220;This is the sign the <sc>Lordsc> has predetermined:<n id="2" /> The altar will be split open and the ashes<n id="3" /> on it will fall to the ground.&#8221;<n id="4" />

The altar split open and the ashes<n id="1" /> fell from the altar to the ground,<n id="2" /> in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had announced with the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s authority.<n id="3" />

Go, tell Jeroboam, &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says: &#8220;I raised you up<n id="1" /> from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel.