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The 1st Chapter
When king David was waxen old
and stricken in years, though they covered him with clothes, yet he
caught no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him: let there be
sought for my Lord the king a young maiden to wait upon him and to
cherish him. And let her lie in his bosom, that my Lord the king may
get heat. And so they sought for a fair Damsel throughout all the
coasts of Israel and found one Abisag a Sunamite and brought her to
the king. And the Damsel was exceeding fair, and cherished the king
and ministered to him: But the king knew her not.
But Adoniah the son of Hagith exalted himself saying: I will
be king. And he gat him a chariot and horsemen and fifty men to run
before him. And his father rebuked him not at any time nor said so
much to him as why dost thou so. And he was thereto a goodly man and
his mother bare him next after Absalom. And he communed with Joab
the son of Zaruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they help
Adoniah. But Sadock the priest, Banaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan
the prophet, Semei and Rei and the men of might which were with
David favoured not Adoniah. And Adoniah sacrificed sheep and oxen
and fatlings at the stone of Zoheleth which is fast by the well of
Rogel, and bade all his brethren the kings sons and all the men of
Juda the kings servants. But Nathan the prophet and Banaiah and the
mighty men and Salomon his brother he bade not.
Whereupon Nathan spake unto Bethsabe the mother of Salomon
saying: hast thou not heard how that Adoniah the son of Hagith doth
reign unwitting unto our master David? Now therefore come that I may
give thee counsel, how to save thine own life and the life of thy
son Salomon. Hence and get thee unto king David and say unto him:
didst thou not my Lord king sware unto thy handmaid saying? Salomon
thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my seat, why is
then Adoniah made king? And see, while thou yet talkest there with
the king, I will come in after thee and will end thy words.
And Bethsabe went in unto the king into the chamber. And the
king was very old and Abisag the Sunamite ministered unto him. And
Bethsabe stooped and made obeisance unto the king. And the king
said: what is thy matter? And she answered and said: My lord thou
swearest by the Lord thy God unto thine handmaid: Salomon thy son
shall reign after me and he shall sit upon my seat. But now see,
Adoniah is king and thou my Lord king *wettest it not. And he hath
offered oxen, fatlings and sheep abundantly, and hath called all the
sons of the King, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of
the Host. But Salomon thy servant hath he not bidden. And now my
Lord king the eyes of all Israel wait on thee, to tell them who
shall sit on the seat of my Lord the king after him. For else when
my Lord the king is laid to rest with his fathers, I and my son
Salomon shall be sinners.
And behold, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the
prophet was come. And they told the king saying: here cometh Nathan
the prophet. And when he was come before the king, he made obeisance
unto the king upon his face unto the ground, and said: My lord king,
hast thou said, Adoniah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon
my seat? For he is gone down this day and hath offered oxen,
fatlings and sheep abundantly, and hath called all the kings sons
and the captains of the Host, and Abiathar the priest. And see, they
eat and drink before him and say. God save king Adoniah. But me thy
servant and Sadock the priest and Banaiah the son of Jehoiada, and
thy servant Salomon he hath not called. Is this thing done of my
Lord the king and yet wouldest not show me thy servant, who should
sit on the seat of my lord the king after him?
Then king David answered and said: call me Bethsabe. And she
came in and stood before him. And the king sware saying. As sure as
the Lord (that hath rid my soul out of all adversity) liveth: even
as I sware unto thee by the Lord God of Israel saying: Salomon shall
reign after me, and he shall sit upon my seat for me, so will I do
this day. And Bethsabe bowed on her face to the earth and did
obeisance unto the King and said: I pray God my lord king David may
live ever. Then said king David call me Sadock the priest and Nathan
the prophet and Banaiah the son of Jehoiada. And when they came
before the king. The king said unto them: take with you the servants
of your Lord, and set Salomon my son upon mine own Mule and carry
him down to Gihon. And let Sadock the priest and Nathan the prophet
anoint him there, to be king over Israel. And then blow ye with a
trumpet and say: God save king Salomon. And then come up after him,
and let him come and sit upon my seat. For he shall be king in my
stead. And him I have commanded to be captain over Israel and Juda.
And Banaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, Amen,
and so I pray God that the Lord God of my Lord the king say so too.
And as the Lord hath been with my Lord the king, even so, I pray God
he may be, with Salomon and that he make his seat gloriouser than
the seat of my Lord king David.
And Sadock the priest and Nathan the prophet and Banaiah the
son of Jehoiada and the Cerethites and Phelethites went down, and
set Salomon upon king Davids Mule and led him to Gihon. And Sadock
the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed
Salomon. And they blew a trumpet, and all they said: God save king
Salomon. And all the people came up after him piping with pipes and
rejoicing greatly, so that the earth rang with the sound of them.
And Adoniah and all the guests that were with him, heard it
even as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the
sound of the trumpet, he said: how happeneth it there is such a
noise in the city? And as he yet spake, see, Jonathas the son of
Abiathar the priest came. And Adoniah said: come for thou art a
lusty blood and bringest good tidings. And Jonathas answered and
said to Adoniah: Verily our Lord king David hath made Salomon king.
And the king sent with him, Sadock the priest and Nathan the
prophet: and Banaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Cerethites and the
Phelethites, and they have set him upon the kings Mule. And Sadock
the priest and Nathan the Prophet have anointed him king in Gihon.
And as they came up again they rejoiced that the city did sound
again. And that is the noise that ye have heard. And thereto Salomon
sitteth on the seat of the kingdom. And moreover the kings servants
went in to bless our Lord king David saying: thy God make the name
of Salomon more favour than thine, and his seat more glorious than
thine. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And last of all thus
said the king: blessed be the Lord God of Israel which hath made one
to sit on my seat this day, even mine eyes seeing it.
And all the guests that were with Adoniah were afraid and rose
up and went every man his way. And Adoniah fearing Salomon arose and
went and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told
Salomon, how that Adoniah for fear of king Salomon hath caught
handfast by the horns of the altar saying: let king Salomon swear
unto me this day, that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
And Salomon said, if he will be a child of virtue, there shall not
an hair of him fall the earth. But and if wickedness shall be found
in him, he shall die for it. And thereupon king Salomon sent and
fetched him down from the altar. And he came and did obeisance unto
king Salomon. And Salomon said to him: get thee to thine house.
*wettest (knew sharply)
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The 2nd Chapter
When the days of David were
drawn nigh, and he should die, he charged Salomon his son saying: I
must walk by the way of the world, neverthelater be thou strong and
quit thyself manfully. And see that thou keep the appointment of the
Lord thy God, that thou walk in his ways and keep his commandments,
ordinances, laws and testimonies, even as it is written in the law
of Moses: that thou mayest understand all that thou oughtest to do,
and all that thou shouldest meddle with. That the Lord may make good
his promise which he hath promised me saying: if thy children shall
take heed to their ways, that they walk before me in truth, with all
their hearts and with all their souls, then thou shalt never be
without one sitting on the seat of Israel.
Moreover thou *wettest how Joab the son of Zaruiah hath served
me, and what he hath done to the two captains of the Hosts of
Israel: unto Abner the son of Ner and unto Amasa the son of Jether:
how he slew them and shed the blood of war in time of peace, and put
the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins and in his
shoes that were on his feet. Deal with him therefore according to
thy wisdom and see that thou bring not his *horre head down to the
grave in peace. And show kindness unto the sons of Berselai the
Galaadite, and let them be among them that eat at thine own table,
because they so clave to me when I fled from Absalom thy brother.
And see, thou hast with thee, Semei the son of Gera the son of
Jemini of Bahurim, which cursed me with a bitter curse what time I
went to Mahanahim. But he came against me to Jordan, and I sware to
him by the Lord, saying, I will not slay thee with the sword. But
pardon thou him not. Thou art a man of wisdom and shalt know what to
do to him, see therefore that thou bring his horre head to the grave
with blood.
And so David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the
city of David. And the days which David reigned upon Israel, were
forty years: seven years in Hebron, and thirty and three years in
Jerusalem. And Salomon sat upon the seat of David his father and his
kingdom was stablished mightily.
After that, Adoniah the son of Hagith came to Bethsabe the
mother of Salomon. And she said: Betokeneth thy coming peace? And he
said: it betokeneth peace. Then said he, I have a matter to show
thee. And she said: say on. And he said: thou knowest that the
kingdom was mine, and that all Israel put their eyes on me, that I
should reign, howbeit the kingdom was turned away and given to my
brother, for it was appointed him of the Lord: and now I ask a
petition of thee, whereof deny me not. And she said unto him: tell
what it is. Then he said: speak I pray thee, unto Salomon the king
(for he will not say thee nay) that he give me Abisag the Sunamite
to wife. And Bethsabe said: well, I will speak for thee unto the
king.
And thereupon Bethsabe went unto king Salomon to speak unto
him for Adoniah. And the king rose up against her and bowed himself
unto her, and sat him down on his seat. And there was a seat set for
the kings mother, and she sat on his right side. Then she said: I
must desire a little petition of thee: say me not nay. And the king
said unto her: Ask on my mother: for I will not say thee nay. And
she said: let Abisag the Sunamite be given to Adoniah thy brother to
wife. And king Salomon answered and said unto his mother: why dost
thou ask Abisag the Sunamite for Adoniah? but rather ask for him the
kingdom, seeing he is mine elder brother: Even for him ask it and
for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zaruiah. Then King
Salomon sware by the Lord saying: God do so to me and so thereto if
Adoniah have not spoken this word against himself. Now therefore as
surely as the Lord liveth which hath stablished me and set me on the
seat of David my father, and which hath made me an house as he
promised me, Adoniah shall die this day. And king Salomon sent by
the hand of Banaiah the son of Jehoiada, and smote him that he died.
And unto Abiathar the priest said the king: get thee to
Anatoth unto thine own fields, for thou art worthy of death: but I
will not at this time kill thee, because thou barest the Ark of the
Lord Jehovah before David my father and because thou sufferest with
my father in all his afflictions. And so Salomon put away Abiathar
from being priest unto the Lord: to fulfil the words of the Lord
which he spake over the house of Eli in Siloh. Then tidings came to
Joab: for Joab had turned after Adoniah but not after Salomon.
Whereupon he fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord and caught
handfast on the horns of the altar. And it was told king Salomon how
that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord and stood by the
altar. Then Salomon sent Banaiah the son of Jehoiada saying: go and
smite him. And when Banaiah was come to the tabernacle of the Lord
he said unto him: thus saith the king, come out. And he said nay:
But I will die even here. And Banaiah brought the king word saying:
thus said Joab and thus he answered me.
And the king said: do even as he hath said: smite him and bury
him, and take away the blood (which Joab shed causeless), from me
and from the house of my father. And the Lord bring his blood upon
his own head, for he smote two men righteouser and better than he,
and slew them with the sword, my father unwitting: even Abner the
son of Ner captain of the Host of Israel, and Amasa the son of
Jether captain of the Host of Juda. And their blood return upon the
head of Joab and on the head of his seed for ever. And prosperity be
unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his
seat, of the Lord for ever.
And Banaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and smote him and slew
him and buried him in his own house in the wilderness. And the king
put Banaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the Host, and put
Sadock the priest in the room of Abiathar.
Then the king sent and called Semei, and said to him: build
thee an house in Jerusalem and dwell there and see that thou go not
once thence any whither. For be thou sure of it, the day thou goest
out and passest over the river of Cedron, thou shalt die for it, and
thy blood shall be on thine own head. And Semei said unto the king:
is well said: as my Lord the king hath said, so will his servant do.
And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem many a day. And it chanced at the end
of three years that two of the servants of Semei ran away unto Achis
son of Maacah king of Geth. And one told Semei saying: see, thy
servants be in Geth. And Semei stood up and saddled his Ass and gat
him to Geth to Achis, to seek his servants, and came and brought
them again from Geth.
But it was told Salomon how that Semei had gone from Jerusalem
to Geth and was come again. And the king sent and called Semei and
said unto him: Did I not adjure thee by the Lord, and testified unto
thee saying: be sure whensoever thou goest out and walkest abroad
any whither, thou shalt die for it? And thou answeredst me, it is
good tidings that I have heard. Why then hast thou not kept the oath
of the Lord, and the commandment that I commanded thee?
And then the king said to Semei: thou rememberest all the
wickedness which thine heart knoweth that thou didst to David my
father. The Lord therefore render again thy wickedness upon thine
own head: and king Salomon be blessed, and the fear of the Lord be
stablished before the Lord for ever. And the king commanded Banaiah
the son of Jehoiada: which went out and smote him that he died. And
so was the kingdom settled in the hand of Salomon.
*wettest: to know sharply, every detail. *horre: may be hoar head as
grey headed
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The 3rd Chapter
Then Salomon drew affinity with
Pharao king of Egypt, and took Pharaos daughter and brought her into
the city of David until he had made an end of building his own house
and the house of the Lord and the walls of Jerusalem round about.
Only the people sacrificed in altars made on hills, because there
was no house built unto the name of the Lord until those days. And
Salomon loved the Lord and walked in the ordinances of David his
father, save only that he sacrificed and offered incense upon altars
in hills.
And the king went to Gabaon, to offer there: for that was a
great offering place. And there Salomon offered a thousand burnt
offerings upon that altar. And in Gabaon the Lord appeared to
Salamon in a dream by night. And God said: Ask what I shall give
thee. And Salomon said: thou hast showed unto thy servant David my
father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth and
in righteousness and plainness of heart with thee. And thou hast
kept for him this great mercy, that thou hast given him a son to sit
on his seat: as it is come to pass this day.
And now Lord, my God, it is thou that hast made thy servant
king instead of David my father. And I am a young lad and know not
how to order myself. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people
which thou hast chosen, a people that are so many that they cannot
be told nor numbered for multitude. Give therefore unto thy servant
an understanding heart to judge thy people, and to discern between
good, and bad. For who is able to judge this thy so weighty a
people?
And it pleased the Lord well, that Salomon had desired this
thing. Wherefore God said unto him: because thou hast asked this
thing and hast not asked long life, neither hast asked riches, nor
the lives of thine enemies, but hast asked the discretion to
understand equity: See, I have done according to thy petition: and
behold, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that
there was none like thee before, neither after thee shall any arise
like unto thee. And thereto I have given thee that thou askedst not,
both riches and honor: so that there shall be no king like thee all
thy days. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep mine ordinances
and commandments as David thy father did walk, I will lengthen thy
days also. When Salomon awoke, this was his dream. And he came to
Jerusalem and presented himself before the Ark of the testament of
the Lord, and offered burntofferings and peaceofferings, and made a
feast to all his servants.
Then came there two women that were harlots unto the king and
stood before him. And the one of them said: Oh my Lord I and this
woman dwell in one house. And I was delivered of a child with her in
the said house. And the third day after that I was delivered, she
was delivered also: we two being together and no stranger with us in
the house save we two alone. And this wifes child died in a night,
for she had overlaid it. And then she arose at midnight and took my
son from my side, while thine handmaid slept and laid it in her
bosom, and put her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose up in the
morning to give my child suck: see, it was dead. But when I had
looked more diligently upon it in the morning: Behold, it was not my
son which I did bear. And the other woman said it is not so: But the
living is my son, and the dead thine. And she said again: thou
sayest untrue, for the dead is thy son, and the living mine. And
thus they pleaded before the king. Then said the king: the one saith,
this that is alive is my son, and the dead is thine. And the other
saith nay: But thy son is the dead and the live child is mine. Then
said the king: bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the
king. And then the king said: Divide the living child in two, and
give the one half to the one, and the other to the other.
Then spake the woman whose the living child was, unto the king
(for her bowels yearned upon her son) and said: I beseech thee my
Lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. And the
other said: it shall be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then
the king answered and said: give her the living child and slay it
not, for she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard of the
judgement which the king had judged and feared the king: for they
saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
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The 4th Chapter
And so king Salomon was king
over all Israel. And these were his Lords: Azariah the son of Sadock
the priest: Elihoreph and Ahiah the sons of Sisa, scribes.
Jehosaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder. And Banaiah the son of
Jehoiada was over the Host. And Sadock and Abiathar were the
priests. And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the general
receivers. And Zabud the son of Nathan was a waiter and the kings
companion. And Ahisar the steward of household: And Adiran the son
of Abda over the tribute.
And Salomon had twelve general receivers over all Israel which
sustained the king and his household: each man his month in a year.
Whose names are these: The son of Hur in mount Ephraim: the son of
Dekar in Makez, in Salem in Bethsames, in Elon and in Bethhanan: the
son of Hesed in Aruboth, and to him pertained Socoh and all the land
of Hepher: the son of Abinadab, which had all the regions of Dor,
and Tapheth the daughter of Salomon was his wife: Baanah the son of
Ahilud had Thanach Magedo and all Bethsan which is by Zarhanah
beneath Jezrahel, and from Bethsan to Abel Mehulah and unto beyond
Jecmaam. The son of Gaber had Ramoth Galaad, and his were the towns
of Jair the son of Manasses which lie in Galaad, and his were the
coasts of Argob in Basan, three score great cities with wall and
Bars of Brass.
Abinadab the son of Ado had Mahanaim: Ahimaaz had Nephthalim,
and he had taken Basemath the daughter of Salomon to wife: Baanah
the son of Husai had Aser and Aloth: Jehosaphat the son of Pharuah
had Isachar, Semei the son of Elah had Benjamin: Gaber the son of
Uri had the country of Galaad and the land of Sehon king of the
Amorites and of Og king of Basan, and was alone receiver in the
land. And Juda and Israel were many even as the sand of the sea in
number, eating, drinking, and making merry. And Salomon reigned over
all kingdoms from the river throughout all the land of the
Philistines unto the borders of Egypt, and they brought presents and
served Salomon all days of his life.
And Salomons food was in one day thirty quarters of manchet
flour and three score quarters of meal: ten stalled oxen, and twenty
out of the pastures and an hundred sheep and goats, besides harts,
bucks and buballs and fat poultry. For he ruled in all the regions
on the other side Euphrates from Thaphsah to Gaza and also over all
the kings on the other side the said Euphrates. And he had peace
with all his servants on every side. And Juda and Israel dwelt
without fear, every man under his vine and under his fig tree from
Dan to Bersabe, all the days of Salomon.
And Salomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for chariots
and twelve thousand horsemen. And the foresaid general receivers
made *purveyance for king Salomon and for all that came to king
Salomons table every man his month, so that there lacked nothing.
And as for barley and straw for the horses and beasts they brought
unto the places where the officers were, every man in his office.
And God gave Salomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much
and a large heart, even as the sand along by the sea bank: so that
Salomons wisdom exceeded the wisdom of all them of the East country
and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And he excelled all men in
wisdom, both Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol and Dorda the
sons of Nahol. And his name spread abroad among all nations on every
side. And Salomon wrote three thousand proverbs. And his songs were
a thousand and five. And he disputed of trees, even from the Cedar
tree that groweth in Libanon unto the Hyssop that springeth out of
the wall. And he disputed of beasts, fowls, worms, and fishes. And
there came of all nations to hear the wisdom of Salomon, and from
all kings of the earth which had heard of his wisdom.
*purveyance: to supply with, food and other things.
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The 5th Chapter
And Hiram king of Tire sent his
servants unto Salomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him
king in the room of his father. And thereto Hiram was ever a lover
of Davids. And Salomon sent again to Hiram saying: thou knowest of
David my father, how he could not build an house unto the name of
the Lord his God for war which he had on every side, until the Lord
had put them under his foot. But now the Lord my God hath given me
rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor any evil
plague. And therefore I am disposed to build an house unto the name
of the Lord my God, as he promised David my father saying: thy son
which I will put upon thy seat for thee, he shall build an house
unto my name. Now then command that they hew me Cedar trees in
Libanon. And let my servants be with thine, and I will give the hire
of thy servants in all such things as thou shalt appoint, for thou
knowest that there are not among us that can skill to hew timber
like unto the Sidones.
When Hiram heard the words of Salomon, he rejoiced greatly and
said: Blessed be the Lord this day which hath set David a wise son
over this mighty people. And Hiram sent again to Salomon saying: I
have accepted the request which thou sentest to me for, and will
satisfy all thy lust, concerning timber of Cedar trees and fir. My
servants shall bring them from Libanon to the sea. And I will convey
them by ship unto the place that thou shalt send me word, and will
cause them to be discharged there, that thou mayst receive them. And
thou shalt do me this pleasure again, to minister food for mine
house. And so Hiram gave Salomon Cedar trees and fir trees, as much
as he desired. And Salomon gave Hiram twenty thousand quarters of
wheat to feed his household withal, and twenty butts of pure oil.
And so much gave Salomon to Hiram year by year.
And the Lord gave Salomon wisdom as he promised him. And there
was peace between Hiram and Salomon and they were confedered
together. And king Salomon raised a tribute throughout all Israel.
And the tribute was thirty thousand men, which he sent to Libanon,
ten thousand a month by course, so that they were one month in
Libanon and two months at home.
And Adoniram was over the tribute. And Salomon had three score
and ten thousand that bare burdens, and three score and ten thousand
that hewed in the mountains besides the Lords he had, to oversee the
work, in number three thousand and three hundred, which ruled the
people that wrought in the work. And at the commandment of the king,
they brought great stones and that free stones, and hewed thereto,
to lay in the foundation of the house. And Salomons masons and the
masons of Hiram did hew them, with them of the borders. And so they
prepared both in timber and stone to build the house.
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The 6th Chapter
And it came to pass the four
hundred and fourscore year after the children of Israel were come
out of the land of Egypt, and the fourth year of the reign of
Salomon upon Israel, and the second month called Zif that he began
to build the temple unto the Lord. And the house which Salomon built
for the Lord, was three score cubits long and twenty broad and
thirty cubits high. And the porch that was before the body of the
temple, was twenty cubits long after the measure of the breadth of
the house, and ten broad, even at the very end of the house. And he
made unto the house windows to open and shut.
And under the walls of the house he made galleries round
about, both round about the temple and also the quere. And so made
sides round about. And the nethermost gallery was five cubits broad
and the middle gallery six. And the third seven cubits broad. For he
made the walls without whereon the beams lay, ever thinner and
thinner, so that they were not fastened in the walls of the house.
And the house was built of stone made perfect all ready before it
was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer or axe either
any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
And the door of the middle gallery was in the end of the house
on the right side. And men went up with winding stairs into the
middle gallery, and out of the middle into the third. And so he
built the house and finished it, and roofed it with beams of Cedar
timber made hollow and joined together. And then he built chambers
over all the temple of five cubits height, and coupled the house
together with beams of Cedar.
And the word of the Lord came to Salomon, saying: concerning
the house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in mine
ordinances and execute my laws and keep all my commandments, to walk
in them: then will I make good unto thee, my promises which I
promised David thy father. And I will dwell among the children of
Israel and will not forsake my people Israel. And so therefore
Salomon built the house and finished it and siled the walls of the
house within, with ribs of Cedar tree: even from the pavement unto
the roof did he sile it within, and boarded the floor of the house
with planks of fir.
And he siled twenty cubits in the end of the temple both floor
and walls with Cedar, and dressed it within to be the *quere and
place most holy. And the first house, that is to say, the body of
the temple, was forty cubits long. And the Cedar of the house within
was carved with *knops and graven with flowers, and all was Cedar
timber, so that no stone was seen. And the quere that was within the
temple, he prepared to set there the Ark of the appointment of the
Lord. And the quere was twenty cubits long, and twenty in breadth
and twenty in height. And he siled it with pure gold, and boarded
the altar with Cedar.
And Salomon siled the house within also with pure gold. And
he made golden bars run along the quere, which he had covered with
gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold until he had ended
it. And the altar that was in the quere he overlaid with gold also.
And within the quere he made two Cherubims of olive tree, ten
cubits high apiece, and every wing five cubits long: so that from
the uttermost part of one wing unto the uttermost part of the other
were ten cubits.
And the other Cherub was ten cubits high also: so that both
the Cherubs were of one measure and one size. The height of the one
Cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other. And he put the
Cherubs in the middle of the inner house. And the Cherubs stretched
their wings, so that the one wing of the one touched the one wall,
and the one wing of the other touched the other wall. And the other
two wings of them touched one another in the midst of the house. And
he overlaid the Cherubs with gold.
And all the walls of the house round about, he garnished with
work of Cherubs and *paulme trees and graven flowers, both within in
the quere and without in the temple. And the floor of the house he
covered with gold both within in the quere and also without in the
temple. And in the entering of the quere he made two doors of olive
tree, with the upper and two side posts five square. And the two
doors of olive tree he graved with graving of Cherubs and Paulme
trees and graved flowers, and covered them with gold, and laid gold
over the Cherubs and also the Paulme trees. And in like manner unto
the door of the temple he made posts of olive tree four square, and
two doors of fir tree, and either door with two folding leaves and
graved thereon Cherubs, Paulme trees and flowers, and covered them
with gold made plain by a ruler.
And then he built the inner court with three rows of hewed
stone and one row of Cedar wood.
In the fourth year of his reign was the foundation of the
house of the Lord laid, even in the month Zif, and in the eleventh
year in the month Bul which is the eighth month, it was full
finished in all that pertained thereto, and fashioned as it should
be in all points. And so was he seven years in building of it.
*quere: room where questions are asked; enquire. *paulme: exact
spelling from text. Palm trees. *knops (knobs)
|
Chapters 1-6
| 7-11
| 12-18
| 19-end |
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