The king’s servants have even come to congratulate ¹  our master ²  King David, saying, ‘May your God ³  make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’ ⁴  Then the king leaned ⁵  on the bed

Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty ¹  for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!”

So I have decided ¹  to build a temple to honor the Lord ²  my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.’ ³ 

When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was very happy. He said, “The Lord is worthy of praise today because he ¹  has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, during the month Ziv ¹  (the second month), he began building the Lord’s temple.

On the two doors made of olive wood he carved ¹  cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold. ²  He plated the cherubs and the palm trees with hammered gold. ³ 

He made two bronze tops for the pillars; each was seven-and-a-half feet high. ¹ 

“The Sea” stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward. ¹ 

Inside the stand was a round opening that was a foot-and-a-half deep; it had a support that was two and one-quarter feet long. ¹  On the edge of the opening were carvings in square frames. ² 

He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons. ¹  Each basin was six feet in diameter; ²  there was one basin for each stand.

the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar),

He told David, ¹  ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. ²  But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’

The Lord has kept the promise he made. ¹  I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor ²  of the Lord God of Israel

then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly ¹  you will then teach them the right way to live ²  and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. ³ 

“When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, ¹  and they direct their prayers to the Lord ²  toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, ³ 

When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky. ¹ 

On the fifteenth day after the festival started, ¹  he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king ²  and then went to their homes, happy and content ³  because of all the good the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

This temple will become a heap of ruins; ¹  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, ²  saying, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings ¹  on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense along with them before the Lord. He made the temple his official worship place. ² 

May the Lord your God be praised because he favored ¹  you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions.” ²