Hiram then sent this message to Solomon: &#8220;I received<n id="1" /> the message you sent to me. I will give you all the cedars and evergreens you need.<n id="2" />

&#8220;As for this temple you are building, if you follow<n id="1" /> my rules, observe<n id="2" /> my regulations, and obey all my commandments,<n id="3" /> I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.<n id="4" />

&#8220;The Sea&#8221; stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. &#8220;The Sea&#8221; was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Hiram also made basins, shovels, and bowls. He<n id="1" /> finished all the work on the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon.<n id="2" />

and the pots, shovels, and bowls. All these items King Solomon assigned Hiram to make for the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple<n id="1" /> were made from polished bronze.

When King Solomon finished constructing the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, he<n id="1" /> put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and other articles) in the treasuries of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.p>

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem<n id="2" /> Israel&#8217;s elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion).<n id="3" />

Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered.<n id="1" />p>

He told David,<n id="1" /> &#8216;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.<n id="2" /> But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.&#8217;

He prayed:<n id="1" /> &#8220;O <sc>Lord,sc> God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty<n id="2" /> to your servants who obey you with sincerity.<n id="3" />

After all,<n id="1" /> you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession,<n id="2" /> just as you, O sovereign <sc>Lordsc>, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the <sc>Lordsc>, he got up from before the altar of the <sc>Lordsc> where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky.<n id="1" />

Solomon offered as peace offerings<n id="1" /> to the <sc>Lordsc> 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the <sc>Lordsc> our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt<n id="1" /> in the south.<n id="2" />

On the fifteenth day after the festival started,<n id="1" /> he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king<n id="2" /> and then went to their homes, happy and content<n id="3" /> because of all the good the <sc>Lordsc> had done for his servant David and his people Israel.p>

The <sc>Lordsc> said to him, &#8220;I have answered<n id="1" /> your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home;<n id="2" /> I will be constantly present there.<n id="3" />

then I will remove Israel from the land<n id="1" /> I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,<n id="2" /> and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed<n id="3" /> among all the nations.

This temple will become a heap of ruins;<n id="1" /> everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn,<n id="2" /> saying, &#8216;Why did the <sc>Lordsc> do this to this land and this temple?&#8217;

Others will then answer,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Because they abandoned the <sc>Lordsc> their God, who led their ancestors<n id="2" /> out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.<n id="3" /> That is why the <sc>Lordsc> has brought all this disaster down on them.&#8217;&#8221;p>

King Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre<n id="1" /> twenty cities in the region of Galilee, because Hiram had supplied Solomon with cedars, evergreens, and all the gold he wanted.