6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the 7 Zidonians. And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great 8 people. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the message which thou hast sent unto me: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and 9 concerning timber of 'fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt 'receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household. 10 So Hiram gave Solomon timber

of cedar and timber of fir acII cording to all his desire. And

Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. 12 And the LORD gave Solomon

wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide. 8 Send me also cedar trees, 'fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy ser9 vants, even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall Io be wonderful great. And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand 2measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil. II Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD loveth his people, he hath 12 made thee king over them. Hu

ram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with discretion and understanding, that should build an house for the LORD, and 13 an house for his kingdom. And

now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, "of 14 Huram my father's, the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to devise any device: that there may

13

And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy. 15 And Solomon had threescore and

ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were 16 hewers in the mountains; besides

Solomon's chief officers that were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which bare rule over the people that wrought 17 in the work. And the king commanded, and they 'hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with 18 wrought stone. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.

1 Or, brought away

be a place appointed unto him with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord 15 David thy father. Now therefore the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send 16 unto his servants: and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to 'Joppa; and thou shalt 17 carry it up to Jerusalem. And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred. 18 2And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people awork.

1 Heb. Japho. 2 See ver. 2.

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And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he 'began to build the house of 2 the LORD. And the house which

king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height 3 thereof thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof 4 before the house. And for the house he made 3windows of fixed 5 lattice-work. And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle : and he made side-chambers round 6 about: the nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad: and the third was seven cubits broad: for on the outside he made rebatements in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold in the walls of the 7 house. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made, ready at the quarry: and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in build8 ing. The door for the "middle side-chamber was in the right

3

3

Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, 'which he made ready 'in the place that David had appointed in the threshing-floor of 2 Ornan the Jebusite. And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the 3 fourth year of his reign. Now *these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the 4 breadth twenty cubits. And the porch that was before the house, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

1 The Sept. and Vulgate have, in the place which David had prepared, in the threshing-floor &c.

2 Heb. in the place of David.

3 In 2 Sam. xxiv. 16, &c., Araunah. 4 Or, these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for &c.

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within, carved with 'knops and open flowers: all was cedar; 19 there was no stone seen. And he prepared an oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of 20 the LORD. And within the oracle

was a space of twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold: 'and he covered the altar with cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the house

within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across before the oracle; and he overlaid it 22 with gold. And the whole house

he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.

:

5 And the greater house he cieled with 'fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and wrought thereon palm trees and chains. 6 And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the thresholds, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cheru8 bim on the walls. And he made the most holy house; the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hun9 dred talents. And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper cham10 bers with gold. And in the most holy house he made two cherubim of image work: and they

II overlaid them with gold. And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing 12 of the other cherub. And the wing of the other cherub was

1 Or, cypress

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