Solomon Succeeds David as King

281 Now David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel , the princes of the tribes , and the commanders of the divisions that served the king , and the commanders of thousands , and the commanders of hundreds , and the overseers of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons , with the officials and the mighty men , even all the valiant men . 2 Then King David rose to his feet and said , "Listen to me, my brethren and my people ; I had intended to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool e of our God . So I had made preparations to build it. 3 "But God said to me, ' You shall not build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood .' 4 "Yet, the Lord , the God of Israel , chose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever . For He has chosen Judah to be a leader ; and in the house of Judah , my father's house , and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel . 5 " Of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons ), He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel . 6 "He said to me, 'Your son Solomon is the one who shall build My house and My courts ; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I will be a father to him. 7 'I will establish his kingdom forever e if he resolutely performs My commandments and My ordinances , as is done now .' 8 "So now , in the sight of all Israel , the assembly of the Lord , and in the hearing of our God , observe and seek after all the commandments of the Lord your God so that you may possess the good land and bequeath it to your sons after you forever e . 9 "As for you, my son Solomon , know the God of your father , and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind ; for the Lord searches all hearts , and understands every intent of the thoughts . If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever . 10 "Consider now , for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary ; be courageous and act ."

11 Then David gave to his son Solomon the plan of the porch of the temple, its buildings , its storehouses , its upper rooms , its inner rooms and the room for the mercy seat ; 12 and the plan of all that he had in mind , for the courts of the house of the Lord , and for all the surrounding rooms , for the storehouses of the house of God and for the storehouses of the dedicated things ; 13 also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord and for all the utensils of service in the house of the Lord ; 14 for the golden utensils, the weight of gold for all utensils for every kind of service ; for the silver utensils , the weight of silver for all utensils for every kind of service ; 15 and the weight of gold for the golden lampstands and their golden lamps , with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps ; and the weight of silver for the silver lampstands , with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps according to the use of each lampstand ; 16 and the gold by weight for the tables of showbread , for each table ; and silver for the silver tables ; 17 and the forks , the basins , and the pitchers of pure gold ; and for the golden bowls with the weight for each bowl ; and for the silver bowls with the weight for each bowl ; 18 and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight ; and gold for the model of the chariot , even the cherubim 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, all the details of this pattern ." 20 Then David said to his son Solomon , " Be strong and courageous , and act ; do not fear nor be dismayed , for the Lord God , my God , is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished . 21 "Now behold , there are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God , and every willing man of any skill will be with you in all the work for all kinds of service . The officials also and all the people will be entirely at your command ."

291 Then King David said to the entire assembly , "My son Solomon , whom alone God has chosen , is still young and inexperienced and the work is great ; for the temple is not for man , but for the Lord God . 2 "Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold , and the silver for the things of silver , and the bronze for the things of bronze , the iron for the things of iron , and wood for the things of wood , onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors , and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance . 3 "Moreover , in my delight in the house of my God , the treasure I have of gold and silver , I give to the house of my God , over and above e all that I have already provided for the holy temple , 4 namely, 3,000 e talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir , and 7,000 e talents of refined silver , to overlay the walls of the buildings ; 5 of gold for the things of gold and of silver for the things of silver , that is, for all the work done by the craftsmen . Who then is willing to consecrate e himself this day to the Lord ?" 6 Then the rulers of the fathers' households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel , and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds , with the overseers over the king's work , offered willingly ; 7 and for the service for the house of God they gave 5,000 e talents and 10,000 e darics of gold , and 10,000 e talents of silver , and 18,000 e e talents of brass , and 100,000 e talents of iron . 8 Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord , in care of Jehiel the Gershonite . 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly , for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart , and King David also rejoiced greatly .

10 So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly ; and David said , "Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our father , forever and ever . 11 " Yours, O Lord , is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty , indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth ; Yours is the dominion , O Lord , and You exalt Yourself as head over all . 12 " Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all , and in Your hand is power and might ; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone . 13 "Now therefore, our God , we thank You, and praise Your glorious name . 14 "But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this ? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. 15 "For we are sojourners before You, and tenants , as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow , and there is no hope . 16 "O Lord our God , all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name , it is from Your hand , and all is Yours. 17 "Since I know , O my God , that You try the heart and delight in uprightness , I, in the integrity of my heart , have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people , who are present here , make their offerings willingly to You. 18 "O Lord , the God of Abraham , Isaac and Israel , our fathers , preserve this forever in the intentions e of the heart of Your people , and direct their heart to You; 19 and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments , Your testimonies and Your statutes , and to do them all , and to build the temple , for which I have made provision ." 20 Then David said to all the assembly , "Now bless the Lord your God ." And all the assembly blessed the Lord , the God of their fathers , and bowed low and did homage to the Lord and to the king . 21 On the next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord , 1,000 bulls , 1,000 rams and 1,000 lambs , with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel . 22 So they ate and drank that day before the Lord with great gladness . And they made Solomon the son of David king a second time , and they anointed him as ruler for the Lord and Zadok as priest .

23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father ; and he prospered , and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the officials , the mighty men , and also all the sons of King David pledged allegiance e to King Solomon . 25 The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel , and bestowed on him royal majesty which had not been on any king before him in Israel .

The Death of David

26 Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel . 27 The period which he reigned over Israel was forty years ; he reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three e years. 28 Then he died in a ripe old age , full of days , riches and honor ; and his son Solomon reigned in his place . 29 "Now the acts of King David , from first to last , are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer , in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of Gad the seer , 30 with all his reign , his power , and the circumstances which came on him, on Israel , and on all the kingdoms of the lands .

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom

11 Now Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom , and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him greatly . 2 Solomon spoke to all Israel , to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel , the heads of the fathers' households. 3 Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon , for God's tent of meeting was there , which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness . 4 However , David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim [1]to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem . 5 Now the bronze altar , which Bezalel the son of Uri , the son of Hur , had made , [2]was there before the tabernacle of the Lord , and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. 6 Solomon went up there before the Lord to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting , and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. 7 In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Ask what I shall give you." 8 Solomon said to God , "You have dealt with my father David with great lovingkindness , and have made me king in his place . 9 "Now , O Lord God , Your [3]promise to my father David is fulfilled , for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth . 10 " Give me now wisdom and knowledge , that I may go out and come in before this people , for who can rule this great people of Yours?" 11 God said to Solomon , "Because e [4]you had this in mind , and did not ask for riches , wealth or honor , or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life , but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king , 12 wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and honor , [5]such e as none of the kings who were before you has possessed e nor those who will [6]come after you."

13 So Solomon went [7]from the high place which was at Gibeon , from the tent of meeting , to Jerusalem , and he reigned over Israel .

Solomon's Trade in Horses and Chariots

14 Solomon amassed chariots and horsemen . He had 1,400 e e chariots and 12,000 e e horsemen , and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem . 15 The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones , and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamores in the [8]lowland . 16 Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue ; the king's traders procured them from Kue for a price . 17 They [9]imported e chariots from Egypt for 600 e shekels of silver apiece and horses for 150 e apiece, and [10]by the same means e they [11]exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram .