DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SATURDAY APRIL 8:
DAILY BIBLE READING
1 Kings 7-9New King James Version (NKJV)
Solomon's Other Buildings
7 But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all
his house.
2 He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was one
hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with
four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars. 3 And it was
paneled with cedar above the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen
to a row. 4 There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and
window was opposite window in three tiers. 5 And all the doorways and
doorposts had rectangular frames; and window was opposite window in three
tiers.
6 He also made the Hall of Pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its
width thirty cubits; and in front of them was a portico with pillars, and a
canopy was in front of them.
7 Then he made a hall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might
judge; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.[a]
8 And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the hall, of like
workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's
daughter, whom he had taken as wife.
9 All these were of costly stones cut to size, trimmed with saws, inside and
out, from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside to the great
court. 10 The foundation was of costly stones, large stones, some ten
cubits and some eight cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, hewn to
size, and cedar wood. 12 The great court was enclosed with three rows of
hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the inner court of the house
of the Lord and the vestibule of the temple.
Hiram the Craftsman
13 Now King Solomon sent and brought Huram[b] from Tyre. 14 He was the son
of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a
bronze worker; he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in
working with all kinds of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and did
all his work.
The Bronze Pillars for the Temple
15 And he cast two pillars of bronze, each one eighteen cubits high, and a
line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of each. 16 Then he made
two capitals of cast bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height
of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five
cubits. 17 He made a lattice network, with wreaths of chainwork, for the
capitals which were on top of the pillars: seven chains for one capital and
seven for the other capital. 18 So he made the pillars, and two rows of
pomegranates above the network all around to cover the capitals that were on
top; and thus he did for the other capital.
19 The capitals which were on top of the pillars in the hall were in the
shape of lilies, four cubits. 20 The capitals on the two pillars also had
pomegranates above, by the convex surface which was next to the network; and
there were two hundred such pomegranates in rows on each of the capitals all
around.
21 Then he set up the pillars by the vestibule of the temple; he set up the
pillar on the right and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on
the left and called its name Boaz. 22 The tops of the pillars were in the
shape of lilies. So the work of the pillars was finished.
The Sea and the Oxen
23 And he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the
other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of
thirty cubits measured its circumference.
24 Below its brim were ornamental buds encircling it all around, ten to a
cubit, all the way around the Sea. The ornamental buds were cast in two rows
when it was cast. 25 It stood on twelve oxen: three looking toward the
north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and
three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back
parts pointed inward. 26 It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was
shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained two
thousand[c] baths.
The Carts and the Lavers
27 He also made ten carts of bronze; four cubits was the length of each
cart, four cubits its width, and three cubits its height. 28 And this was
the design of the carts: They had panels, and the panels were between
frames; 29 on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and
cherubim. And on the frames was a pedestal on top. Below the lions and oxen
were wreaths of plaited work. 30 Every cart had four bronze wheels and
axles of bronze, and its four feet had supports. Under the laver were
supports of cast bronze beside each wreath. 31 Its opening inside the crown
at the top was one cubit in diameter; and the opening was round, shaped like
a pedestal, one and a half cubits in outside diameter; and also on the
opening were engravings, but the panels were square, not round. 32 Under
the panels were the four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were joined to
the cart. The height of a wheel was one and a half cubits. 33 The
workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their
axle pins, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast bronze.
34 And there were four supports at the four corners of each cart; its
supports were part of the cart itself. 35 On the top of the cart, at the
height of half a cubit, it was perfectly round. And on the top of the cart,
its flanges and its panels were of the same casting. 36 On the plates of
its flanges and on its panels he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees,
wherever there was a clear space on each, with wreaths all around. 37 Thus
he made the ten carts. All of them were of the same mold, one measure, and
one shape.
38 Then he made ten lavers of bronze; each laver contained forty baths, and
each laver was four cubits. On each of the ten carts was a laver. 39 And he
put five carts on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of
the house. He set the Sea on the right side of the house, toward the
southeast.
Furnishings of the Temple
40 Huram[d] made the lavers and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished
doing all the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of the
Lord: 41 the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of
the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals
which were on top of the pillars; 42 four hundred pomegranates for the two
networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two
bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars); 43 the ten carts,
and ten lavers on the carts; 44 one Sea, and twelve oxen under the Sea; 45
the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.
All these articles which Huram[e] made for King Solomon for the house of the
Lord were of burnished bronze. 46 In the plain of Jordan the king had them
cast in clay molds, between Succoth and Zaretan. 47 And Solomon did not
weigh all the articles, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze
was not determined.
48 Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of the Lord: the
altar of gold, and the table of gold on which was the showbread; 49 the
lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left in
front of the inner sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the
wick-trimmers of gold; 50 the basins, the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles,
and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of
the inner room (the Most Holy Place) and for the doors of the main hall of
the temple.
51 So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was
finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had
dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the
treasuries of the house of the Lord.
The Ark Brought into the Temple
8 Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the
tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in
Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from
the City of David, which is Zion. 2 Therefore all the men of Israel
assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is
the seventh month. 3 So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took
up the ark. 4 Then they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tabernacle of
meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The
priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 Also King Solomon, and all the
congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the
ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for
multitude. 6 Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the
Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy
Place, under the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread their two
wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and
its poles. 8 The poles extended so that the ends of the poles could be seen
from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be
seen from outside. And they are there to this day. 9 Nothing was in the ark
except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the
Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the
land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that
the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not
continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled
the house of the Lord.
12 Then Solomon spoke:
"The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
13
I have surely built You an exalted house,
And a place for You to dwell in forever."
Solomon's Speech at Completion of the Work
14 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel,
while all the assembly of Israel was standing. 15 And he said: "Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and
with His hand has fulfilled it, saying, 16 'Since the day that I brought My
people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel
in which to build a house, that My name might be there; but I chose David to
be over My people Israel.' 17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to
build a temple[f] for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 18 But the Lord
said to my father David, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for
My name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless you shall
not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall
build the temple for My name.' 20 So the Lord has fulfilled His word which
He spoke; and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the
throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built a temple for the
name of the Lord God of Israel. 21 And there I have made a place for the
ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with our fathers,
when He brought them out of the land of Egypt."
Solomon's Prayer of Dedication
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all
the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; 23 and he
said: "Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below
like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk
before You with all their hearts. 24 You have kept what You promised Your
servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled
it with Your hand, as it is this day. 25 Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now
keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, 'You shall not
fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons
take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before
Me.' 26 And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You
have spoken to Your servant David my father.
27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of
heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
28 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my
God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying
before You today: 29 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night
and day, toward the place of which You said, 'My name shall be there,' that
You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. 30 And
may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel,
when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and
when You hear, forgive.
31 "When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath,
and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, 32 then hear
in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing
his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to
his righteousness.
33 "When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have
sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name,
and pray and make supplication to You in this temple, 34 then hear in
heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to
the land which You gave to their fathers.
35 "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have
sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name,
and turn from their sin because You afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven,
and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach
them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land
which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
37 "When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew,
locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their
cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; 38 whatever prayer,
whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when
each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward
this temple: 39 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and
act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know
(for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men), 40 that they may
fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our
fathers.
41 "Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but
has come from a far country for Your name's sake 42 (for they will hear of
Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he
comes and prays toward this temple, 43 hear in heaven Your dwelling place,
and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all
peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people
Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called
by Your name.
44 "When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send
them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen
and the temple which I have built for Your name, 45 then hear in heaven
their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
46 "When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and
You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them
captive to the land of the enemy, far or near; 47 yet when they come to
themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make
supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, 'We
have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness'; 48 and when they
return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of
their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land
which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the
temple which I have built for Your name: 49 then hear in heaven Your
dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their
cause, 50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all
their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant
them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have
compassion on them 51 (for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom
You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace), 52 that Your eyes may
be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your
people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. 53 For You
separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your
inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our
fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God."
Solomon Blesses the Assembly
54 And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and
supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord,
from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. 55 Then he
stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: 56
"Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to
all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise,
which He promised through His servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be
with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us, 58
that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to
keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded
our fathers. 59 And may these words of mine, with which I have made
supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that
He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel,
as each day may require, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that
the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be loyal to
the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at
this day."
Solomon Dedicates the Temple
62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord.
63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to
the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand
sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the
Lord. 64 On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that
was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings,
grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze
altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings,
the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 At that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great
assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord
our God, seven days and seven more days-fourteen days. 66 On the eighth day
he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents
joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His
servant David, and for Israel His people.
God's Second Appearance to Solomon
9 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the
Lord and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he wanted to do,
2 that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to
him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him: "I have heard your prayer and
your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this
house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My
heart will be there perpetually. 4 Now if you walk before Me as your father
David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to
all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments,
5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I
promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man on the
throne of Israel.' 6 But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me,
and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you,
but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel
from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have
consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a
proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And as for this house, which is
exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and
say, 'Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?' 9 Then
they will answer, 'Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought
their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and
worshiped them and served them; therefore the Lord has brought all this
calamity on them.'"
Solomon and Hiram Exchange Gifts
10 Now it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the
two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's house 11 (Hiram the king
of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as much as he
desired), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of
Galilee. 12 Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had
given him, but they did not please him. 13 So he said, "What kind of cities
are these which you have given me, my brother?" And he called them the land
of Cabul,[g] as they are to this day. 14 Then Hiram sent the king one
hundred and twenty talents of gold.
Solomon's Additional Achievements
15 And this is the reason for the labor force which King Solomon raised: to
build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo,[h] the wall of
Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up
and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, had killed the Canaanites who dwelt
in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.)
17 And Solomon built Gezer, Lower Beth Horon, 18 Baalath, and Tadmor in the
wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 all the storage cities that Solomon
had, cities for his chariots and cities for his cavalry, and whatever
Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of
his dominion.
20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel- 21 that is,
their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of
Israel had not been able to destroy completely-from these Solomon raised
forced labor, as it is to this day. 22 But of the children of Israel
Solomon made no forced laborers, because they were men of war and his
servants: his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his
cavalry.
23 Others were chiefs of the officials who were over Solomon's work: five
hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work.
24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up from the City of David to her house which
Solomon[i] had built for her. Then he built the Millo.
25 Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, and he burned
incense with them on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the
temple.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, which is near
Elath[j] on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 Then Hiram
sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the
servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to Ophir, and acquired four hundred
and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
Footnotes:
a.1 Kings 7:7 Literally floor, that is, of the upper level
b.1 Kings 7:13 Hebrew Hiram (compare 2 Chronicles 2:13, 14)
c.1 Kings 7:26 Or three thousand (compare 2 Chronicles 4:5)
d.1 Kings 7:40 Hebrew Hiram (compare 2 Chronicles 2:13, 14)
e.1 Kings 7:45 Hebrew Hiram (compare 2 Chronicles 2:13, 14)
f.1 Kings 8:17 Literally house, and so in verses 18-20
g.1 Kings 9:13 Literally Good for Nothing
h.1 Kings 9:15 Literally The Landfill
i.1 Kings 9:24 Literally he (compare 2 Chronicles 8:11)
j.1 Kings 9:26 Hebrew Eloth (compare 2 Kings 14:22)
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James VersionR. Copyright C 1982 by Thomas
Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
