Solomon Succeeds David as King

28¹ And David assembleth all the heads of Israel, heads of the tribes, and heads of the courses who are serving the king, and heads of the thousands, and heads of the hundreds, and heads of all the substance and possessions of the king, and of his sons, with the officers and the mighty ones, even to every mighty one of valour—unto Jerusalem. ² And David the king riseth on his feet, and saith, 'Hear me, my brethren and my people, I—with my heart—to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and for the footstool of our God, and I prepared to build, ³ and God hath said to me, Thou dost not build a house to My name, for a man of wars thou 'art', and blood thou hast shed. ⁴ 'And Jehovah, God of Israel, doth fix on me out of all the house of my father to be for king over Israel to the age, for on Judah He hath fixed for a leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, on me, 'me' He hath been pleased to make king over all Israel; ⁵ and out of all my sons—for many sons hath Jehovah given to me—He also fixeth on Solomon my son, to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel, ⁶ and saith to me, Solomon thy son, he doth build My house, and My courts, for I have fixed on him to Me for a son, and I—I am to him for a father, ⁷ and I have established his kingdom to the age, if he is strong to do My commands, and My judgments, as at this day. ⁸ 'And now, before the eyes of all Israel, the assembly of Jehovah, and in the ears of our God, keep and seek all the commands of Jehovah your God, so that ye possess this good land, and have caused your sons to inherit after you unto the age. ⁹ 'And thou, Solomon, my son, know the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind, for all hearts is Jehovah seeking, and every imagination of the thoughts He is understanding; if thou dost seek Him, He is found of thee, and if thou dost forsake Him, He casteth thee off for ever. ¹⁰ See, now, for Jehovah hath fixed on thee to build a house for a sanctuary; be strong, and do.'

¹¹ And David giveth to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of its houses, and of its treasures, and of its upper chambers, and of its innermost chambers, and of the house of the atonement; ¹² and the pattern of all that hath been by the Spirit with him, for the courts of the house of Jehovah, and for all the chambers round about, for the treasures of the house of God, and for the treasures of the things sacrificed; ¹³ and for the courses of the priests and of the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and for all vessels of service of the house of Jehovah, ¹⁴ even gold by weight, for 'things of' gold, for all instruments of service and service; for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of service and service; ¹⁵ and 'by' weight for the candlesticks of gold, and their lamps of gold, by weight 'for' candlestick and candlestick, and its lamps; and for the candlesticks of silver, by weight for a candlestick and its lamps, according to the service of candlestick and candlestick; ¹⁶ and the gold 'by' weight for tables of the arrangement, for table and table, and silver for the tables of silver; ¹⁷ and the forks, and the bowls, and the cups of pure gold, and for the basins of gold, by weight for basin and basin, and for the basins of silver, by weight for basin and basin, ¹⁸ and for the altar of perfume refined gold by weight, and for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubs of gold—spreading and covering over the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. ¹⁹ The whole 'is' in writing from the hand of Jehovah, 'He caused me to understand all the work of the pattern,' 'said David.' ²⁰ And David saith to Solomon his son, 'Be strong, and courageous, and do; do not fear nor be affrighted, for Jehovah God, my God, 'is' with thee; He doth not fail thee, nor forsake thee, unto the completion of all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah. ²¹ 'And lo, courses of the priests and of the Levites 'are' for all the service of the house of God; and with thee in all work 'is' every willing one with wisdom, for every service; and the heads and all the people 'are' according to all thy words.'

29¹ And David the king saith to all the assembly, 'Solomon my son—the one on whom God hath fixed—'is' young and tender, and the work 'is' great, for not for man is the palace, but for Jehovah God; ² and with all my power I have prepared for the house of my God, the gold for 'things of' gold, and the silver for 'those of' silver, and the brass for 'those of' brass, the iron for 'those of' iron, and the wood for 'those of' wood, shoham stones, and settings, and stones of painting and of diverse colours, and all 'kinds of' precious stone, and stones of white marble, in abundance. ³ 'And again, because of my delighting in the house of my God, the substance I have—a peculiar treasure of gold and silver—I have given for the house of my God, even over and above all I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary: ⁴ three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses, ⁵ even gold for 'things of' gold, and silver for 'those of' silver, and for all the work by the hand of artificers; and who 'is' he that is offering willingly to consecrate his hand to-day to Jehovah?' ⁶ And the heads of the fathers, and the heads of the tribes of Israel, and the heads of the thousands, and of the hundreds, even to the heads of the work of the king, offer willingly. ⁷ And they give for the service of the house of God, of gold—talents five thousand, and drams a myriad; and of silver—talents ten thousand, and of brass—a myriad and eight thousand talents; and of iron—a hundred thousand talents; ⁸ and he with whom stones are found hath given to the treasury of the house of Jehovah, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹ And the people rejoice because of their offering willingly, for with a perfect heart they have offered willingly to Jehovah; and also David the king hath rejoiced—great joy.

¹⁰ And David blesseth Jehovah before the eyes of all the assembly, and David saith, 'Blessed 'art' Thou, Jehovah, God of Israel our father, from age even unto age. ¹¹ To Thee, O Jehovah, 'is' the greatness, and the might, and the beauty, and the victory, and the honour, because of all in the heavens and in the earth; to Thee, O Jehovah, 'is' the kingdom, and he who is lifting up himself over all for head; ¹² and the riches, and the honour 'are' from before Thee, and Thou art ruling over all, and in Thy hand 'is' power and might, and in Thy hand, to make great, and to give strength to all. ¹³ 'And now, our God, we are giving thanks to Thee, and giving praise to Thy beauteous name; ¹⁴ yea, because, who 'am' I, and who 'are' my people, that we retain power to offer thus willingly? but of Thee 'is' the whole, and out of Thy hand we have given to Thee; ¹⁵ for sojourners we 'are' before Thee, and settlers, like all our fathers; as a shadow 'are' our days on the land, and there is none abiding. ¹⁶ 'O Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build to Thee a house, for Thy holy name, 'is' out of Thy hand, and of Thee 'is' the whole. ¹⁷ 'And I have known, my God, that Thou art trying the heart, and uprightness dost desire; I, in the uprightness of my heart, have willingly offered all these: and now, Thy people who are found here I have seen with joy to offer willingly to Thee. ¹⁸ 'O Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this to the age for the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their heart unto Thee; ¹⁹ and to Solomon my son give a perfect heart, to keep Thy commands, Thy testimonies, and Thy statutes, and to do the whole, even to build the palace 'for' which I have prepared.' ²⁰ And David saith to all the assembly, 'Bless, I pray you, Jehovah your God;' and all the assembly bless Jehovah, God of their fathers, and bow and do obeisance to Jehovah, and to the king. ²¹ And they sacrifice to Jehovah sacrifices, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the morrow of that day, bullocks a thousand, rams a thousand, lambs a thousand, and their oblations, even sacrifices in abundance, for all Israel. ²² And they eat and drink before Jehovah on that day with great joy, and cause Solomon son of David to reign a second time, and anoint 'him' before Jehovah for leader, and Zadok for priest.

²³ And Solomon sitteth on the throne of Jehovah for king instead of David his father, and prospereth, and all Israel hearken unto him, ²⁴ and all the heads, and the mighty men, and also all the sons of king David have given a hand under Solomon the king; ²⁵ and Jehovah maketh Solomon exceedingly great before the eyes of all Israel, and putteth upon him the honour of the kingdom that hath not been on any king over Israel before him.

The Death of David

²⁶ And David son of Jesse hath reigned over all Israel, ²⁷ and the days that he hath reigned over Israel 'are' forty years; in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three; ²⁸ and he dieth in a good old age, satisfied with days, riches, and honour, and reign doth Solomon his son in his stead. ²⁹ And the matters of David the king, the first and the last, lo, they are written beside the matters of Samuel the seer, and beside the matters of Nathan the prophet, and beside the matters of Gad the seer, ³⁰ with all his reign, and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all kingdoms of the lands.

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom

1¹ And strengthen himself doth Solomon son of David over his kingdom, and Jehovah his God 'is' with him, and maketh him exceedingly great. ² And Solomon saith to all Israel, to heads of the thousands, and of the hundreds, and to judges, and to every honourable one of all Israel, heads of the fathers, ³ and they go—Solomon, and all the assembly with him—to the high place that 'is' in Gibeon, for there hath been God's tent of meeting, that Moses, servant of Jehovah, made in the wilderness, ⁴ but the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-Jearim, when David prepared for it, for he stretched out for it a tent in Jerusalem; ⁵ and the altar of brass that Bezaleel son of Uri, son of Hur made, he put before the tabernacle of Jehovah; and Solomon and the assembly seek to it. ⁶ And Solomon goeth up thither, on the altar of brass, before Jehovah, that 'is' at the tent of meeting, and causeth to ascend upon it a thousand burnt-offerings. ⁷ In that night hath God appeared to Solomon, and saith to him, 'Ask—what do I give to thee?' ⁸ And Solomon saith to God, 'Thou hast done with David my father great kindness, and hast caused me to reign in his stead. ⁹ Now, O Jehovah God, is Thy word with David my father stedfast, for Thou hast caused me to reign over a people numerous as the dust of the earth; ¹⁰ now, wisdom and knowledge give to me, and I go out before this people, and I come in, for who doth judge this Thy great people?' ¹¹ And God saith to Solomon, 'Because that this hath been with thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, and honour, and the life of those hating thee, and also many days hast not asked, and dost ask for thyself wisdom and knowledge, so that thou dost judge My people over which I have caused thee to reign— ¹² the wisdom and the knowledge is given to thee, and riches and wealth and honour I give to thee, that there hath not been so to the kings who 'are' before thee, and after thee it is not so.'

¹³ And Solomon cometh in 'from' the high place that 'is' in Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tent of meeting, and reigneth over Israel,

Solomon's Trade in Horses and Chariots

¹⁴ and Solomon gathereth chariots and horsemen, and he hath a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, and he placeth them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And the king maketh the silver and the gold in Jerusalem as stones, and the cedars he made as sycamores that 'are' in the low country, for abundance. ¹⁶ And the source of the horses that 'are' to Solomon 'is' from Egypt and from Keva; merchants of the king from Keva take at a price, ¹⁷ and they come up, and bring out from Egypt a chariot for six hundred silverlings, and a horse for fifty and a hundred, and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Aram—by their hand they bring out.