30So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said to him, “Thus says the king, q‘Come out!’ ” And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”
31Then the king said to him, r“Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, sthat you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed.
32“So the LORD twill return his 7blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous uand better than he, and killed them with the sword—vAbner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and wAmasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it.
33“Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and xupon the head of his descendants forever. yBut upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the LORD.”
34So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put zZadok the priest in the place of aAbiathar.
Shimei Executed
36Then the king sent and called for bShimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere.
37“For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross cthe Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; dyour 8blood shall be on your own head.”
38And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to eAchish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!”
40So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.
41And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back.
42Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’
43“Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD and the commandment that I gave you?”
44The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, fall the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the LORD will greturn your wickedness on your own head.
45“But King Solomon shall be blessed, and hthe throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.”
46So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the ikingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
1 Kings 3
Solomon Requests Wisdom
(2 Chr. 1:2–13)
1Now aSolomon made 1a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her bto the City of David until he had finished building his cown house, and dthe house of the LORD, and ethe wall all around Jerusalem.
2fMeanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days.
3And Solomon gloved the LORD, hwalking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
4Now ithe king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, jfor that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5kAt Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon lin a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”
6mAnd Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he nwalked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You ohave given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7“Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a plittle child; I do not know how qto go out or come in.
8“And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You rhave chosen, a great people, stoo numerous to be numbered or counted.
9t“Therefore give to Your servant an 2understanding heart uto judge Your people, that I may vdiscern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
10The speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have wnot asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice,
12x“behold, I have done according to your words; ysee, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.
13“And I have also zgiven you what you have not asked: both ariches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.
14“So bif you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, cas your father David walked, then I will dlengthen3 your days.”
15Then Solomon eawoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and fmade a feast for all his servants.
Solomon’s Wise Judgment
16Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and gstood before him.
17And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house.
18“Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; 4no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house.
19“And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.
20“So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21“And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.” Solomon’s Jerusalem
22Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ”
24Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.
25And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”
26Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for hshe yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”
27So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”
28And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the iwisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
1 Kings 4
Solomon’s Administration
1So King Solomon was king over all Israel.
2And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest;
3Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, 1scribes; aJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder;
4bBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army; Zadok and cAbiathar, the priests;
&nbs
p; 5Azariah the son of Nathan, over dthe officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, ea priest and fthe king’s friend;
6Ahishar, over the household; and gAdoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force.
7And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year.
8These are their names: 2Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim;
93Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan;
104Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher;
115Ben-Abinadab, in all the regions of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife;
12Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam;
136Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged hthe towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; to him also belonged ithe region of Argob in Bashan—sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars;
14Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
15jAhimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife;
16Baanah the son of kHushai, in Asher and Aloth;
17Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18lShimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin;
19Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in mthe country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only governor who was in the land.
Prosperity and Wisdom of Solomon’s Reign
20Judah and Israel were as numerous nas the sand by the sea in multitude, oeating and drinking and rejoicing.
21So pSolomon reigned over all kingdoms from qthe7 River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. rThey brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22sNow Solomon’s 8provision for one day was thirty 9kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal,
23ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.
24For he had dominion over all the region on this side of 10the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over tall the kings on this side of the River; and uhe had peace on every side all around him.
25And Judah and Israel vdwelt11 safely, weach man under his vine and his fig tree, xfrom Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
26ySolomon had 12forty thousand stalls of zhorses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
27And athese governors, each man in his month, provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon’s table. There was no lack in their supply.
28They also brought barley and straw to the proper place, for the horses and steeds, each man according to his charge.
29And bGod gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.
30Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men cof the East and all dthe wisdom of Egypt.
31For he was ewiser than all men—fthan Ethan the Ezrahite, gand Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
32hHe spoke three thousand proverbs, and his isongs were one thousand and five.
33Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.
34And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, jcame to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
1 Kings 5
Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple
(2 Chr. 2:1–18)
1Now aHiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, bfor Hiram had always loved David.
2Then cSolomon sent to Hiram, saying:
3dYou know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God ebecause of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the LORD put 1his foes under the soles of his feet.
4But now the LORD my God has given me frest2 on every side; there is neither adversary nor 3evil occurrence.
5gAnd behold, 4I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, has the LORD spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”
6Now therefore, command that they cut down icedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians. Solomon’s Temple
7So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said,
Blessed be the LORD this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!
8Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying:
I have considered the message which you sent me, and I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress logs.
9My servants shall bring them down jfrom Lebanon to the sea; I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you indicate to me, and will have them broken apart there; then you can take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire kby giving food for my household.
10Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire.
11lAnd Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand 5kors of wheat as food for his household, and 6twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.
12So the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, mas He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.
13Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men.
14And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; nAdoniram was in charge of the labor force.
15oSolomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains,
16besides three thousand 7three hundred from the pchiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work.
17And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and qhewn stones, to lay the foundation of the 8temple.
18So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the 9temple.
1 Kings 6
Solomon Builds the Temple
(2 Chr. 3:1–14)
1And ait came to pass in the four hundred and 1eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of 2Ziv, which is the second month, bthat he began to build the house of the LORD.
2Now cthe house which King Solomon built for the LORD, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.
3The vestibule in front of the 3sanctuary of the house was 4twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of 5the vestibule extended 6ten cubits from the front of the house.
4And he made for the house dwindows with beveled frames.
5Against the wall of the 7temple he built echambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary fand the 8inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it.
6The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the 9temple.
7And gthe temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
8The doorway for the 10middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the
middle story, and from the middle to the third.
9hSo he built the 11temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar.
10And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.
11Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:
12“Concerning this 12temple which you are building, iif you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My 13word with you, jwhich I spoke to your father David.
13“And kI will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not lforsake My people Israel.”
14So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
15And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress.
16Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the mMost Holy Place.
17And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.
18The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen.
19And he prepared the 14inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar.
21So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.
22The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold nthe entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.
23Inside the inner sanctuary ohe made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
24One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other.
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 167