David's gifts for the temple. CHAP. XXIX. His thanksgiving.

18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

19 All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.

20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong, and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

21 And behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites, even they shall be with thee for all the service of the house of God: and there shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing skilful man, for any manner of service: also the princes and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment,

CHAP. XXIX. The Free Gifts for the Temple. URTHERMORE David the Fkin said unto all the congre gation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

2 Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx-stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

I

3 Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, 4 Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:

6 Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king's work, offered willingly,

7 And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.

8 And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Ger shonite.

9 Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

101 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thy hand is power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

16 O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thy holy name cometh of thy hand, and 28 all thine own.

17 I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast plea5 The gold for things of gold, sure in uprightness. As for me, and the silver for things of silver, in the uprightness of my heart I and for all manner of work to be have willingly offered all these made by the hands of artificers. things: and now have I seen with And who then is willing to conse-joy thy people, which are present crate his service this day unto the here, to offer willingly unto thee. LORD? 18 O LORD God of Abraha 415

Solomon anointed king. II. CHRONICLES,

David's death Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, stead of David his father, and keep this for ever in the imagina-prospered; and all Israel obeyed tion of the thoughts of the heart of him. thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in-tries.

The Second Book of the CHRONICLES.

and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.

6 And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before the LORD, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thou sand burnt-offerings upon it.

71 In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.

8 And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.

9 Now, OLORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be es tablished: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is 80 great?

11 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of

Solomon prepares

CHAP. II.

for building the temple thine enemies, neither yet hast This is an ordinance for ever to asked long life; but hast asked Israel. wisdom and knowledge for thy-1 self, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:

12 Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

131 Then Solomon came from his journey to the high place that was at Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tabernacle of the congregation, and reigned over Israel.

5 And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.

6 But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?

7 Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom 14 And Solomon gathered cha-David my father did provide. riots and horsemen: and he had a 8 Send me also cedar-trees, firthousand and four hundred cha- trees, and algum-trees out of Lebariots, and twelve thousand horse-non: (for I know that thy servants men, which he placed in the cha- can skill to cut timber in Lebanon;) riot-cities, and with the king at and behold, my servants shall be Jerusalem. with thy servants,

15 And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar-trees made he as the sycamore-trees that are in the vale, for abundance.

16 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

17 And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so brought they out horses for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, by their

means.

CHAP. II.

Solomon's Message to Huram. AND: Solomon determined to build a house for the name of the LORD, and a house for his kingdom.

2 And Solomon told out threeFeore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.

3 And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house to dwell therein, even so deal with me.

4 Behold, I build a house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shew-bread, and for the burnt-offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new-moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God.

9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.

10 And behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twen ty thousand baths of oil,

11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them."

12 Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath givento viagrudence

endued with prudence and understanding, that might build a house for the LORD, and a house for his kingdom.

13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's,

14 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 find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.

15 Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants;

16 And we will cut wood ou

Dimensions and ornaments II. CHRONICLES, of Solomon's temple Lebanon, as much as thou shalt 10 And in the most holy house need and we will bring it to he made two cherubims of imagethee in floats by sea to Joppa; work, and overlaid them with and thou shalt carry it up to Jeru- gold. salem.

11 And the wings of the cheru17 T And Solomon numbered all bims were twenty cubits long: one the strangers that were in the land wing of the one cherub was five cuof Israel, after the numbering bits, reaching to the wall of the wherewith David his father had house: and the other wing was numbered them; and they were likewise five cubits, reaching to the found a hundred and fifty thou-wing of the other cherub. sand and three thousand and six hundred.

12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching 18 And he set threescore and to the wall of the house: and the ten thousand of them to be bearers other wing was five cubits also, of burdens, and fourscore thou-joining to the wing of the other sand to be hewers in the mountain, cherub and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people

a work.

CHAP. III. Building of Solomon's Temple. THEN Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jorusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

3 Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

4 And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the

13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.

14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

15 Also he made before the house. two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

16 And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.

17 And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

CHAP. IV.

Altar of Brass, Molten Sea, &c.
TOREOVER he made an altar

height was a hundred and twenty: M of brass, twenty cubits the

and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

5 And the greater house he ceiled with fir-tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereen 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 posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.

8 And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.

9 And the weight of the nails mas fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with ald.

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length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

2 Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

3 And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.

4 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

5 And the thickness of it was a

CHAP V.